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POULTRY 
EXPERIENCE 




THE EMPIRE 
POULTRY BOOK 

DENVER, COLO. 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/poultryexperiencOOgros 



THE EMPIRE 

POULTRY 

BOOK 



A Practical Reference Manual 
For Poultry Keepers 



COPYEIGHED 1911 

By E. Gbossek, Denyeb, Colo. 



^ 



INTRODUCTORY 



This booh is written to ad- 
vertise my poultry preparations 
ana to give publicity to facts ana 
theories which I trust will he in- 
structive. 

It has the merit, if merit it be, 
of truthfully recording the results 
of personal experience ana obser- 
vation. For over twenty-five years 
I have had to ao with poultry. 
During this period I have tried to 
heef) abreast of the literature and 
bulletins relating to the industry. 

XJfion the information thus 
gained is based wnat afefeears in the 
following jf>ages. t « 

E. GROSSER. 



©CI.A388757 

DEC 10 [914 



CONTENTS 



THE POULTRY INDUSTRY 5 

EMPIRE POULTRY POWDER 7 

Empire Lice Killer — Head Lice Ointment — 
Creo Solution — Anti-Germ. 

POULTRY AXD "DOPE ; -' 12 

DOES POULTRY PAY ? 14 

BREEDS OF POULTRY 21 

WHAT BREED TO KEEP 28 

POULTRY HOUSE CONSTRUCTION 32 

POULTRY HYGIENICS 36 

Cleanliness — Pnre Drinking "Water — The 
Dnst Bath — Sunlight and Shade — Fresh Air 
— Keep Your Birds Docile — Exercise. 

HATCHING WITH HENS 19 

HATCHING WITH INCUBATORS 54 

FEEDS AXD FEEDING 59 

Grains — Wet and Dry Mash — Green Feed — 
Lime — Charcoal — Meat — Rations. 

POULTRY PESTS 67 

Thieves — Cats — Rats — L . 



CONTENTS-~Continued 

HOW TO TELL THE LAYING HEN 74 

HOW MANY EGGS SHOULD A HEN LAY?. . 76 

HANDY APPLIANCES 80 

Collapsible Pen — Feeding Troughs — Egg 
Box. 

HOME METHODS FOR PRESERVING EGGS. 83 
Lime Water — Water Glass — Bran — Salt. 

TURKEYS 87 

DUCKS AND GEESE 89 

POULTRY DISEASES 92 

White Diarrhea — Roup — Bronchitis — 
Chicken Pox or Sore Head — Pip — Gapes — 
Crop Bound — Bumble Foot — Scaly Leg — 
Egg Bound — Apoplexy — Rheumatism. 



The Poultry Industry 

The last United States census report gives the 
yearly value of eggs produced and fowls raised in 
this country in round numbers at $600,000,000. 
This equals in value the annual wheat production. 
It is larger by far than the output of our silver and 
gold mines. It represents about five times the total 
tobacco crop. In dollars and cents it brings in as 
much as the crops of oats, barley, rye, buckwheat 
and sugar beets combined. The poultry industry 
is growing. Secretary Coburn of the Kansas Agri- 
culture Board estimates that in his state in five 
years the output of poultry products increased from 
seven to eleven million dollars. This rate of in- 
crease may not be general over the entire country, 
but it is safe to say that wherever fowl are raised 
the business is increasing. 

The reasons for this increase are not far to 
seek. The population of the United States is stead- 
ily growing. The supply of available land for 
agricultural purposes has about reached its limit. 
Hereafter instead of opening new lands the country 
will have to depend upon more intensive farming. 
Our Western ranges, where formerly roamed cattle 
by the thousands, are, many of them, cut up into 
small grain farms. 

The United States Department of Agriculture 
in Farmers' Bulletin No. 575, issued Feb. 7, 1914, 
estimates a shortage of 8,536,000 head of cattle, 

5 



6,509,000 head of sheep and 3,214,000 head of 
swine. People who wonder at the high price of 
meat may find food for reflection in these figures. 
Conditions that increase the price of meat products 
are bound to stimulate the poultry industry. 

An effective aid to urban and suburban poultry 
raising is the rapid transit street car system. For- 
merly the city was always congested. People were 
compelled to live close together so as to be able to 
get to their work. The trolley line has changed all 
that. It has enabled the city to spread out. People 
have more room. Many of them take advantage of 
this and put in a pen of their favorite fowl. They 
thus combat the high cost of living and provide a 
pleasant recreation. A thrifty flock of hens in the 
back yard adds a touch of nature to the surround- 
ings. Strictly fresh eggs from his own flock and 
nice tender spring chicken are luxuries to the man, 
a good part of whose diet ordinarily consists of 
canned stuff. 

Since intensive farming must become the rule 
in this country, we may safely conclude that the 
future development of the poultry industry will at 
least equal and probably exceed any growth it has 
made in the past. 



Empire Poultry Powder 

Empire Poultry Powder is a tonic compound 
that may profitably be fed to- poultry of any age or 
stage of growth. The formula for making Empire 
Powder was originated by a veterinary surgeon 
who for many years was in the service of the 
United States government at various Western mili- 
tary posts. 

The study of poultry was to him a recreation 
and diversion that took up most of his leisure time. 
He understood the anatomy and nature of our do- 
mestic fowl better than any other man I ever knew. 

For over fifteen years I have used this powder 
with my own flocks. When I first began its use I 
had no idea of ever placing it upon the market as 
a commercial proposition. 

When I went into' the fuel and feed business 
in North Denver I had a good many customers who 
kept small flocks of poultry. Incidentally I heard 
a good many tales of woe. Hens wouldn't lay and 
chicks persisted in dying. I kept and sold the lead- 
ing poultry preparations on the market. Often 
these seemed to help and just about as often they 
did not. To some of my customers I gave free 
gratis a quantity of the powder I was making and 
using for my own hens. Right there my trouble 
began. I soon had more requests than I could con- 
veniently grant. But people were willing to pay, 
so I prepared a quantity of the powder and sold it 

7 



in bulk at twenty cents a pound. This sold so read- 
ily that I finally decided to put up the powder in 
regular package form, the same as other prepara- 
tions of the kind were put up. My fuel and feed 
business was known as the Columbia Fuel and 
Feed Co., so I labeled my poultry powder Columbia 
Poultry Powder. A good many people in North 
Denver and in other parts of the city as well, will 
no doubt remember using Columbia Poultry 
Powder. It sold well. It brought people into my 
place of business who would buy a package of the 
powder and afterward would become regular cus- 
tomers for feed and coal. I also began putting out 
the powder through other dealers in Denver and 
surrounding towns, and then I ran into a snag. 
There is a concern in the East that for years has 
been marketing poultry remedies and preparations 
under the name of Columbia. When my product 
became known I was informed that I was infring- 
ing upon another man's name and trade-mark and 
that unless I desisted I might expect a damage suit 
and be enjoined in the courts. I was not looking 
for any trouble of this sort, so I destroyed my 
labels and after some deliberation decided I would 
name my preparation "Empire." There is no special 
significance in the name except that no other line 
of poultry and veterinary preparations that I know 
of is known by that name and the word Empire is 
frequently used as a name for business enterprises. 
In addition to the Tonic Powder, I manufac- 



tured an insect powder, a head lice ointment, a 
liquid lice killer and disinfectant, a germicide and 
roup cure, to be used in water, and a line of veter- 
inary remedies. I make and sell these preparations 
under the name of The Empire Tonic Co. 

It is readily understood that the kind of medi- 
cine used for any trouble should be governed by the 
nature of the disease to be treated. Different ail- 
ments require different treatments. The same dis- 
ease often requires different treatment in different 
climates. The principle also applies to diet. The 
Eskimo would perish if compelled to subsist upon 
rations common in the tropics, and the man at the 
Equator would be equally bad off if limited to a 
polar diet. These facts should be remembered when 
giving condimental powders or foods to poultry 
or larger live stock. I do not believe that there is 
a condition powder made that is equally well 
adapted for all sections of the United States. My 
attention was first called to this when I was in the 
feed business and selling the leading brands of 
poultry and stock powders. People who perhaps 
for years had used a certain condition powder in 
the East would use it here and find that they were 
getting no results. Sometimes they seemed to doubt 
whether they were getting- the same preparation. 
The powders were the same all right enough but 
the climate and conditions under which they were 
used were different. 

Empire Poultry Powder is made in Denver 
9 



and is sold only in the mountain states. For the 
high altitude and dry climate of the West it is su- 
perior, I am confident, to any other preparation of 
the kind on the market. In making this claim I 
speak from personal experience with my stock and 
from the voluntary testimony of hundreds of 
pleased poultry keepers who are using the powder. 
Empire Powder fed to chicks from the time they 
are two or three days old will protect them against 
the diseases that lay such heavy toll upon chick life 
and it will keep the mature stock in health and 
prime laying condition. 

EMPIRE LICE KILLER. 

Empire Lice Killer, a powder, is certain death 
to insects. It is of most service with setting hens. 
The setting hen that is dusted two or three times 
with Empire Lice Killer will bring off her hatch 
without a louse. It will also keep chicks free from 
the lice pest. Dusted into the laying nests occasion- 
ally it will keep down lice and mites by killing them 
in one of their most prolific breeding places. The 
lice killer is harmless to chicks and larger fowl. It 
will also destroy insects upon plants and is fre- 
quently used for that purpose. 

EMPIRE HEAD LICE OINTMENT. 

As its name indicates, Empire Head Lice Oint- 
ment is a preparation designed to rid chicks of head 
lice, the large blood-sucking louse that bores 

10 



through the skin on the head and other parts of the 
body. The ointment destroys not only the head 
lice but absolutely kills every louse upon the body 
of the chick. The losses caused annually by insect 
vermin among chicks are enormous. Thousands 
of chicks die from this cause and many more thou- 
sands are stunted and retarded in their growth. 
Such losses are particularly regrettable when it is 
remembered that a little care and attention would 
avoid them. Empire Head Lice Ointment is safe 
and convenient to use. It is also an efficient remedy 
for scaly leg. Two applications one week apart 
will cure the worst case. 

A good many poultrymen in treating their 
hicks for lice prefer to use an ointment rather than 
a powder. To all such I recommend Empire Head 
Lice Ointment. 

EMPIRE CREO SOLUTION. 

Creo Solution is a liquid prepared from coal 
tar and is an insecticide and disinfectant. It is di- 
luted with water and used as a spray. It is es- 
pecially efficient in destroying mites and as a dis- 
infectant in quarters previously occupied by sick 
poultry or other animals. 

EMPIRE ANTI-GERM. 

Anti-Germ is a powder that destroys disease 
bacteria in water. It is also- a healing agent for 
inflamed mucous . membranes and open sores. The 

11 



most sure and rapid method by which infectious 
diseases of all kinds are transmitted through a flock 
of birds is by means of the water pan from which 
they all drink in common. Used as directed, Anti- 
Germ is a specific against diseases of the intestinal 
tract and mucous membranes, such as roup, colds, 
diarrhea, etc. 



Poultry and "Dope 

"I give my poultry no dope," I occasionally 
hear someone say. Such people reason that poultry 
kept according to Nature's laws require no tonics 
or powders. The trouble with this reasoning is 
that it is based upon wrong premises. Domestic 
poultry either on the farm or in the city are gener- 
ally kept under artificial conditions far from nat- 
ural. In her wild native state the hen lays a clutch 
of eggs in the spring, hatches them, broods the 
chicks and that finishes her work for the year. So 
environed the hen has unlimited range, and finds 
roots, herbs, berries and whatever else may be 
needed for her well being. As with all, wild life, 
she is normal and healthy. Nature takes care of 
her own. Under domestication conditions change 
radically. To start with, we have been breeding 
the hen for egg production until she lays nearly the 
year around. A good hen will produce each year 
from four to six times her weight in eggs. To do 

12 



such laying she must consume an unusual lot of 
varied nourishing food, This throws a heavy load 
on the digestic system. The hen has been appro- 
priately compared to an engine running under high 
pressure. The rule holds good with her that the 
higher the pressure the more liability there is of 
trouble. Few people realize how prone poultry are 
to digestive troubles. Ailments affecting tb? nutri- 
tive functions of the fowl cause more loss to 
poultrymen than all other diseases together. 
Throughout its entire life the fowl is subject to 
sickness of this kind, In little chicks the com- 
monest form of such sickness is diarrhea, some- 
times the dreaded white kind. Mature fowls have 
liver trouble, gastritis, enteritis, aberated appetite, 
dysentery and even cholera. 

For the prevention of such troubles the care- 
ful poultryman will find Empire Poultry Powder 
an invaluable adjunct. It is a digestive tonic and 
it prevents and cures diseases of the nutritive sys- 
tem. The surest way of developing healthy growth 
in chicks or getting abundant egg production from 
developed fowl, is to keep the stock in pink of con- 
dition. 

Competition in nearly all lines of human effort 
is so strong that hardly any business is profitable 
when run so as to produce only half of its capacity. 
Where all the feed has to be bought the flock of 
poultry that averages only five or six dozen eggs 
per year per hen, is kept at a loss. The poultry 

13 



keeper with an eye to business should be satisfied 
with nothing less than an average production of 
eight dozen eggs a year for each hen. This should 
be the minimum. If production falls below this, 
better change the system or get more profitable 
stock. 

Get the right kind of stock and handle them 
so as to get from ten to fifteen dozen eggs per hen 
per year. Then there is profit. Empire Poultry 
Powder fed as directed will enable you to get such 
returns. 

A hen will live from five to ten years and do 
some laying nearly every year of her life. The 
practical ponltryman does not keep his birds that 
long. He crowds them for egg laying for one, or 
at the most, two years, and then disposes of most 
of them for meat purposes. 



>oes .rouiiry 



Pay? 



To the uncompromising enthusiast this may 
sound like asking, Does picking up good money 
pay? But poultry raising is not all velvet. I once 
received a letter from the editor of a poultry journal 
asking me to write a fifteen hundred-word story 
for his paper, for which he agreed to send me his 
check for ten dollars. I was to write on some mat- 
ter of general interest to poultry keepers, choosing 
my own subject. I headed my story, "Exagger- 

14 



ated Poultry Profits." I tried to show that returns 
from poultry were moderate and questioned the 
claims of excessive production and profits. 

Perhaps my story was a little raw. Anyhow, 
the editor returned it without delay. He politely 
informed me that his paper was trying to boost the 
poultry industry and not to knock it. Needless to 
say I did not get the ten dollars. 

Contrary to the belief held by many, poultry 
farming as a business is not a get-rich-quick propo- 
sition. It is not a business of short hours or easy 
work. Least of all is it a vocation into which the 
inexperienced should rashly venture. I am refer- 
ring now to poultry farms conducted along com- 
mercial lines, on which the stock and eggs are sold 
at current market prices. In the New England and 
Middle Atlantic states there are many such farms 
doing a prosperous business. The same is true in 
California. However, even here failures are not 
unknown and the returns upon investment and labor 
are in about the same ratio as in other lines of farm 
industry. Poultry farms thrive in these sections 
because of their proximity to good markets. 

Colorado, which adjoins states unusually pro- 
lific in products of the hen, imports every year 
about $4,000,000 • in eggs and dressed and live 
poultry. Some of our patriotic boosters insist that 
this excess should be produced in our own state 
and the money thus kept at home. 

In the state of Massachusetts it is estimated 

15 



by competent statisticians that the excess of con- 
sumption over production in poultry products is 
over $40,000,000 annually. The whole state of 
Connecticut does not produce enough eggs to sup- 
ply the city of Hartford. Approximately the same 
ratio of consumption and local production exists in 
all the North Atlantic states. The greater part of 
the eggs and fowl they consume is shipped in and 
shipped over the Alleghany mountains at that. This 
places a premium upon the fresh locally produced 
stock. California is somewhat similarly situated. 
The bulk of the eggs and poultry consumed there 
must be imported from the grain-growing states 
over 1,000 miles to the East. Such natural factors 
conduce to the advantage of the local producers in 
those sections. Conditions change after we leave 
the coast. All through the Mississippi valley, which 
is the great grain belt of the continent, nearly every 
farm has from a few dozen to several hundred 
head of chickens. All their feed is raised right on 
the farm, besides they live to a great extent on 
what would otherwise go to waste. They are, we 
may say, a by-product of the farm. And while in 
many cases, owing to neglect, they do not produce 
as well as the better kept city flock, except in rare 
instances, they always pay. From Western Kansas 
and Nebraska, clear across to Ohio and from Da- 
kota, Minnesota and the Great Lakes, to the Gulf 
of Mexico, is embraced the territory wherein is pro- 
duced the bulk of this country's poultry products. 

26 



At five cents a dozen, or fifty cents, the flood of 
eggs from this section, varying with the seasons, 
comes continually and determines the price in every 
market in the country. Distant markets, such as 
Boston, New York and San Francisco are not so 
strongly affected as points nearer adjacent and the 
local producer in such markets therefore gets better 
prices, 

In Deliver, during several months in the 
spring, the wholesale price of fresh eggs is general- 
ly around 20 cents a dozen or under. While in the 
fall medium hens are often a drug on the market at 
14 cents per pound. At such prices it takes some 
financiering to buy feed at from $1.25 to $1.75 per 
hundred pounds, pay for help, rent, etc., and still 
leave a margin of profit for the producer. The man 
or woman who is figuring on going into poultry 
raising as a sole means of making a livelihood 
would do well to keep these figures and conditions 
in mind. 

However, only a small part of the total prod- 
uct is produced upon poultry farms, exclusively run 
as such. It is safe to assume that over 97 per cent, 
of the eggs and poultry consumed in this country 
comes from farms and villages and city back lot" 
where the industry is carried on as a side line. And 
thus carried on the business nearly always pays 
when properly managed. To start with, there is 
nearly always a greater rate of profit in a small 
flock than in a large one. They can be better at- 

17 



tended to. There is less danger from infectious 
diseases. The work can be done, incidentally, by 
members of the family, thus requiring no extra out- 
lay for help and rarely does the item of rent enter. 
The table scraps that would otherwise be thrown 
away can be utilized, thus reducing the feed bill, 
and the city back-lotter, at least, does not sell his 
eggs at wholesale prices. He supplies, first, his 
own table, and even when the wholesale price is as 
low as 15 cents per dozen this still means 25 cents 
to the purchaser at retail. Known fresh eggs al- 
ways top the market and the small neighborhood 
producer, when he has stock to sell, should anr 
does get better prices than the. best shipped in stocl 
brings. 

When poultry is handled under these condi- 
tions I am sure that the often estimated profit of 
"a dollar a year per hen" is none too large. Often 
it is considerably more. Two dozen hens on a city 
back lot should net, when properly looked after, 
$25 a year. They can do so easily. The reason 
this is not oftener recognized is due to the fact that 
while returns come in daily in small quantities and 
are often overlooked or forgotten, the feed bill at 
the end of the month is an evident and tangible 
fact, which the feed dealer will not permit to pass 
from memory without the production of hard cash. 
The human mind is prone to underestimate the ac- 
cumulative power of small items. Flocks that are 
supposed to be not paying, if given credit for every 

18 



egg laid and fowl consumed or sold, would often 
show a handsome profit. 

The figures so far given apply only to stock 
used and sold for utility purposes. The breeding 
of thoroughbred poultry presents a wider field with 
correspondingly greater opportunities, both for 
profit and loss. It really is a business in itself. It 
requires patience, skill and all the arts of the ex- 
perienced fancier. Fanciers of the highest type are 
born and not made, and not many of them are born 
either. Charles Darwin, in his "Origin of Species," 
says that "Not one man in a thousand has accuracy 
of eye and judgment sufficient to become an emi- 
nent breeder." Charles Darwin confessed that he 
could not acquire this accuracy of eye and judg- 
ment. 

To breed and raise birds filling the require- 
ments of the American Standard of Perfection is 
one thing; to advertise this fact so as to get the 
most out of it in dollars and cents is another. When 
the two* accomplishments meet in the same individ- 
ual who puts his skill to practical use, he occasion- 
ally acquires fame and easy money. 

People who go off the beaten path a little often 
do well with poultry. I know a man and his wife 
running a poultry ranch near one of the larger cities 
of this state who do a nice business selling baby 
chicks, for which they receive an average price of 
25 cents apiece. They have a strain of fowl that 
runs strong to broodiness and they hatch mostly 

19 



with hens. With the chicks they generally sell the 
mother hen, for which they receive from one to 
two dollars. They have all the business they can 
attend to and it provides them a comfortable in- 
come. One of 1 the most successful small poultry 
plants I ever saw was operated by a lady in Denver 
on a vacant lot adjoining her home. She was a 
thorough poultry woman and acquired quite a rep- 
utation for her strain of fowls. Although she never 
took her birds to a show and advertised scarcely 
at all, she sold baby chicks for 30 cents apiece and 
eggs at $2.00 a setting- and had more orders than 
she could fill. When compelled to leave the city 
on account of her husband's ill health, she was 
making upwards of $500 a year. In Massachusetts 
there lives a man who has mide a fortune running 
a broiler farm. He hatches h:'s chicks in October 
and November and markets them in December, 
January and February, when such stock is rare and 
brings the highest price. 

With poultry keeping, as with other lines of 
business, initiative, perseverance and the ability to 
make the most out of conditions count for much. 



JDreeds or Jroultry 

Breeds of poultry may be divided into three 
classes : First, the heavy Asiatics ; Second, the 
small, active Mediterranean and similar breeds, and 
third, the general purpose breeds, which in most 
cases have been produced by crossing individuals 
of the first and second classes, and which, as may 
be expected, exhibit characteristics of both. 

The different breeds vary in color, shape, size 
and disposition. The small breeds embrace birds 
of Italian, Spanish and Dutch origin. They are 
characterized by being active, sprightly, non-sitters 
and layers of white shelled eggs in goodly numbers. 
To this class belong the Leghorns, Anconas, Ham- 
burgs, Campines, Minorcas, White-Faced Black 
Spanish and Blue Andalusians. 

The Asiatic class is composed of Brahmas, 
Cochins and Langshans. The Asiatics differ from 
nearly all other breeds in having a growth of feath- 
ers on the outer side of their shanks. They mature 
slowly and are easily kept in low-fenced inclosures. 

The leading general purpose breeds found in 
this country are the Orpingtons, which are of Eng- 
lish origin, the Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island 
Reds and Wyandottes. Each of these breeds is in 
many respects similar to other breeds of the same 
class. 

The large breeds are docile and not prone to 
exercise or being nervous. The small breeds are 

21 



active and of a nervous disposition. This relation 
of size and nervous activity is not confined to fowls. 
It runs all through the animal kingdom. It is well 
illustrated among dogs by the fussy little terrier 
and the sedate Newfoundland and St. Bernard. It 
even applies to the human family. Large, fat people 
are proverbially good-natured and deliberate. 

The lines between the different breeds of poul- 
try are not drawn so hard and fast as is popularly 
supposed. As a rule breeds approaching each other 
in size, shape and weight, are similar in disposition, 
egg-laying and other characteristics. This is dem- 
onstrated by the fact that varieties of the same 
breed are sometimes wholly unrelated. Thus in the 
early nineties, when buff colored fowls became pop- 
ular the late Dr. Aldrich of Fall River, Mass., in 
his day one of the foremost fanciers of the country, 
went into Rhode Island, where practically all the 
birds raised are red or buff colored, picked out some 
buffs that in size and shape matched the Plymouth 
Rocks, sent them to the Madison Square Garden 
Poultry Show in New York City, and, presto 
change, America's newest breed of poultry had ap- 
peared, namely, the Buff Plymouth Rocks. On the 
other hand, when fowl are bred so as to perma- 
nently change some of their physical features they 
also acquire new breed characteristics along other 
lines. I knew a man who bred successive genera- 
tions of Leghorns for size until he had birds aveiv 
aging seven pounds in weight. In name and blood 

22 



these birds were pure Leghorns, but that was all. 
In disposition and almost everything else that dis- 
tinguishes breed, they were more like Wyandottes, 
or Orpingtons. 

Of the different breeds nearly every one is di- 
vided into sub-breeds or varieties, the principle dif- 
ference being a matter of color. Thus in Brahmas 
we have the Light and Dark Brahma. In this breed 
there is also a difference in weight. The light va- 
riety is a little heavier. It is the heaviest of all the 
breeds. Brahma hens weighing ten pounds or more 
are common. Brahmas are often accused of being 
poor layers, but when handled in a way that com- 
pels them to exercise they will lay with the best. 
They are great winter layers. When the sudden 
blizzard chills some of the smaller breeds to the 
bone and laying stops, the Brahma, protected by 
ample plumage and layers of fat and muscle, stays 
right on the job and keeps shelling out eggs. 

The Cochins consist of three varieties, the 
Buff, White and Partridge, which are alike in 
everything except color. The Cochin, as it exists, 
today, has almost ceased to be a utility breed. The 
reason for this is excessive feathering and the awk- 
ward shape to which the Cochin has been bred. A 
hen must be active to be a good layer. When she 
is bred to conform to a type that discourages ac- 
tivity, egg-laying is interfered with. 

The Langshan is the smallest of the Asiatics, 
being about the size of the Plymouth Rocks. Lang- 

23 



shans have deservedly held high favor in this coun- 
try. They are good layers and mothers. They 
don't take on fat quite so readily as the other Asi- 
atics, but are a fine table fowl nevertheless. Of the 
two varieties the Black is by far the most numerous, 
although flocks of White Langshans are frequent- 
ly seen in this country. 

Something like half a century ago there lived 
in Connecticut a minister, Rev. David Upham, who 
by making various crosses, produced a fowl that 
caught the popular fancy. He continued breeding 
this fowl along certain lines until he had established 
a new breed. Being a loyal Yankee, he sought to 
give this new breed a name that would forever as- 
sociate it with the traditions of New England. He 
therefore named it Plymouth Rock. And Plymouth 
Rock it is to this day, one of America's greatest 
breeds of poultry. The breed was originally repre- 
sented only by the barred variety. Since then there 
have been added, in the order named, the White, 
Buff, Partridge and Columbian Plymouth Rocks, 
none of which, however, has achieved the popular- 
ity of the original breed. 

The first Wyandottes recognized by that name 
in .this country were the Silver-Laced variety, which 
was admitted into the standard in 1883. Since 
then there have been admited, in the order named, 
the White, Black, Buff, Partridge, Silver Penciled 
and Columbian Wyandottes. Some of these can 
trace their descent from the original Silver Laced 

24 



variety. Others have none of the original Wyan- 
dotte blood in their veins. "Poultry Weekly," pub- 
lished at Boston, Mass., says that the first Buff 
Wyandottes exhibited in this country were Rhode 
Island Reds. 

The Wyandotte is slightly smaller than the 
Plymouth Rock. It has a rose comb and is of a 
compact, blocky build. The White variety has far 
exceeded all the others in popularity. 

The Orpingtons were originated in England 
by the late Wm. Cook in the latter pail; of the last 
century, and have been extensively imported into 
this country. They are larger than any of the 
American general purpose breeds and differ from 
the latter also in having a white skin and pink 
shanks, these points in the American breeds being 
yellow. For meat purposes the English trade de- 
mands a bird with a white skin. As the Orpingtons 
approach the Asiatics in size, so they resemble them 
in disposition. They are docile and must be in- 
duced to exercise to keep in best laying condition. 
The American Standard of Perfection recognizes 
the White, Buff, Blue and Black varieties. 

No other breed of fowl ever spread with the 
phenomenal rapidity of the Rhode Island Reds. Ad- 
mitted into the Standard in 1904, within less than 
a decade in point of numbers and popularity they 
were the leading breed of the country. The Red 
craze has subsided somewhat and the field is open 
for some other breed as a candidate for popularity. 

25 



But it is safe to assume that the Rhode Island Red 
as a breed is here to stay. Their medium size, act- 
ive habits, handsome color and prolific egg-laying 
commend them alike to the fancier and the man 
who is in the business for meat and eggs. There 
are two varieties, the Single and Rose Comb. 

The Rhode Island' Reds, as their name indi- 
cates, had their origin in Rhode Island. In that 
state and the adjoining parts of Massachusetts, 
poultry farming as an exclusive industry has been 
carried on for upwards of a century. Sea captains 
returning from China and other parts of Asia 
brought back large red roosters that were sold to 
farmers who used them tx> improve the native stock. 
In this way the Rhode Island Reds originated. 

On the large poultry farms of the country the 
White Leghorns predominate. This is due to sev- 
eral reasons. In the first place Leghorns have quite 
a reputation as layers. They mature quickly. They 
can be hatched June ist and be in laying condition 
beginning the following winter. While not a meat 
breed they can be disposed of at broiler size at good 
profit. There is no bother in breaking up broody 
hens and as they do not get over-fat they require 
less care in feeding than do' larger breeds. There 
is, perhaps, no fowl whose appearance is more neat 
and trim than the Leghorn. White, Brown and 
Buff Leghorns are common in this country. 

Next to the Leghorns the best known Mediter- 
ranean breed is the Minorca, formerly known as the 

26 



Red-Faced Black Spanish, to distinguish them from 
the white-faced birds of practically the same breed. 
The Minorca is the largest of the . Mediterranean 
breeds. To fulfill standard requirements it should 
be almost as large as the Plymouth Rock. How- 
ever, the Minorca, as commonly bred, is smaller 
than this. There are two varieties of Minorcas, 
the black and the white. The white is the smaller 
of the two and has never been generally bred in 
this country. The Minorca lays an extra large 
handsome white egg, that in most markets sells at 
a premium. The chicks are hearty and vigorous 
and, like the Leghorn, mature early. 

Close akin to the Black Minorcas in color, 
habits and other characteristics, are the White- 
Faced Black Spanish. For some occult reason this 
breed in recent years has gone into eclipse and is 
rarely seen now except in the yards of some fancier. 
They are good layers and their white faces, to- 
gether with their brilliant black plumage, give thenr 
a unique and distinguished appearance. 

The French breeds in this country are pre- 
sented almost exclusively by the Houdans. The 
Houdan is distinguished from most ovber fowl by 
having a heavy crest of feathers on its head. Its 
general plumage is black mottled with white. Fifty 
years ago* when the breed was first introduced into 
this country its friends predicted for it great pop- 
ularity. This, however, has failed to materialize. 
As a practical fowl the Houdan has never been able 

27 



to get much consideration from American poultry 
raisers. 

Somewhat better success has followed the ef- 
forts of breeders interested in Hamburg's, the Dutch 
breed. Birds of this breed are hardy and vigorous ; 
their delicate grace of form and carriage, together 
with their close-fitting, beautifully marked plumage 
will attract favorable attention anywhere. Ham- 
burgs are small in size and are non-setters. As 
prolific layers they can't be beat. 

Among the latest breeds to be recognized by 
the American Standard of Perfection are the Cam- 
pines, which, in size, shape and disposition, re- 
semble the Leghorns. People interested in the 
Campines predict for them a boom, which, how- 
ever, so far has failed to realize. 



"What breed shall I keep?" asks the prospec- 
tive poultry man. This question is often followed 
by the query, "What breed lays the best?" The 
latter question is asked only by the novice. The ex- 
perienced in such matters know that egg-laying is 
more a matter of strain than of breed. Also that 
it depends more upon feed, care and attention given 
than either strain or breed. 

In the Australian laying contest held several 
years ago the Black Langshans led. The famous 
hen at the Oregon Experiment Station that nearly 

28 



broke the world's record for number of eggs laid 
in one year, was a mongrel Barred Rock. In the 
Missouri state laying contest the Leghorns won, 
while in the Connecticut contest White Wyandottes 
carried off the prize. So you see egg-laying doesn't 
necessarily depend upon breed. 

"Keep the breed you like the best" is the ad- 
vise frequently offered the beginner. This sense- 
less statement has been reiterated so often that some 
people really believe that there is something in it. 
Necessarily the beginner has only rudimentary 
ideas about breed characteristics. Likely as not he 
has taken a fancy to some breed least suited to his 
wants. The breed that may be kept to best advan- 
tage depends a good deal upon environment and 
conditions under which the birds are to be handled. 
Thus if you have low or poor fences and your 
neighbor adjoining has a garden, it's just as well 
not to keep Leghorns, or others of the light breeds. 
If your yards are small and liable to be dirty don't 
choose a white variety, otherwise your birds will 
look dingy always. 

There are some general considerations that 
should be kept in mind when choosing a breed. It 
is easier to breed solid colored birds, true to stand- 
ard requirements, than the multicolored ones, that 
is, birds whose plumage runs in patterns, such as 
the various silver or gold-laced or penciled varie- 
ties. Most anyone can take a flock of white or 
black birds and keep up the color through succes- 

29 



sive generations of breeding. But to take a flock 
of prize-winning Silver-Laced Wyandottes and re- 
produce the distinct outlines and delicate shades of 
color generation after generation requires an artist. 
The amateur who tries this often finds after several 
generations that his color patterns are inclined to 
become somewhat of a smudge. 

It is generally recognized by experienced poul- 
try raisers that the heavy breeds require more care. 
They should not be overfed and provision must be 
made to keep them at exercise. I constantly meet 
people who say the Brahmas are poor layers. So 
they are if not properly handled. But the man or 
woman who understand their birds and treat them 
accordingly will have no occasion to complain about 
poor egg returns from Brahmas. 

For general utility purposes and all around 
usefulness, the American breeds, such as the Rhode 
Island Reds, Wyandottes and Plymouth Rocks, are 
well adapted. These breeds are good layers and 
excellent for meat purposes as well. They fatten 
readily when their usefulness as layers is over and 
they can't be beat when served as broilers or soft 
roasters. In this respect they are better than the 
Asiatics, which, while making their growth, run so 
much to bone and muscle that they are not ideal 
table birds until they are matured. 

Breeds of poultry, like ladies' bonnets and 
other things, run in styles and nearly every breed 
of poultry has had its day of popularity. Sixty 

30 



years ag"0 when the first great wave of poultry 
craze swept the country Cochins were the rage. 
These were followed by the Brahmas. Then came 
the Black Spanish and the Leghorns, to be suc- 
ceeded by the Plymouth Rocks. Then came the 
Wyandottes and after these the Rhode Island Reds. 
Of all these breeds none has had any more general 
or as prolonged a popularity as the Barred Plymouth 
Rocks. At home and abroad, among utility breed- 
ers and fanciers for over a generation the Barred 
Rock has been a prime favorite. 

However, the place so 1 long held by the Rocks 
is now practically occupied by the Rhode Island 
Reds. Whether the Reds will retain popular favor 
for so long a time as the Rocks remains to be seen. 

The easiest money in the poultry business is 
generally made by those who have birds of a. breed 
that is just beginning to come in strong for popu- 
larity. In such cases demand for eggs and stock is 
generally far in excess of supply and the fortunate 
breeder having such stock is in the position of any 
other man who gets in on the ground floor. 

Because a breed is popular it does not neces- 
sarily follow that it is the best one for everybody 
to keep. A good many discerning fanciers prefer 
an obscure breed and they do< well with it. Com- 
petition is not so strong and to a good many people 
there is some satisfaction in not following the 
crowd. And after all is said, breed is of really 
minor importance. It's work mixed with brains 

81 



that brings results to the poultry keeper. Intelli- 
gent care and attention will be followed by success 
with almost any of the standard breeds. 



Poultry House Construction 

In deciding upon a plan for a poultry house 
keep away from fads and freak construction. By 
this I mean two or more story houses, houses 
wholly or partly underground, or with all canvas 
or all glass front, or monitor top houses and many 
other kinds I might mention. Nearly all of such 
houses have positive disadvantages which for lack 
of time and space can not be discussed here. 

In poultry houses the simplest is often the best. 
Fifteen dollars will build as good a coop for a dozen 
hens so far as the health and comfort of the fowls 
go as one hundred and fifty. A convenient coop, 
shed style, may be built according to the following 
specifications: Size on ground, ten by five feet; 
front elevation, six feet; rear elevation, four feet. 
Have opening on one end for door and two 1 open- 
ings for windows about two feet square on front 
side. On the same side, on bottom, have also small 
opening to permit exit and entrance of birds. In 
end of coop opposite the door have a platform of 
dropping boards five by five feet placed at an eleva- 
tion of about two feet above the floor. Twelve 

32 



inches above the dropping boards have two roosting 
poles. Under the dropping boards may be placed 
straw or other scratching material which will cover 
entire floor. Plain earth is the cheapest and most 
sanitary floor to be had in a dry climate, as we have 
in the West. A house such as this will easily ac- 
commodate a dozen hens and male bird, together 
with necessary laying nests. Without the dropping 
boards platform it will house nearly twice this num- 
ber. In the latter case provision must be made for 
scratching exercise outside of the coop. Windows 
should be entirely open throughout the summer and 
should not be completely closed at any season. Fowls 
will stand considerable coop crowding if they are 
only given sufficient ventilation. Fresh air they 
must have. They must have it without noticeable 
draft during cold weather. The most practical way 
of getting this ventilation is through openings in 
the south side of the coop. I have never seen a 
patent ventilator that I would give two cents for or 
have on my premises. During one whole winter 
and part of the following summer I once kept ten 
hens in a large dry goods box with a small run at- 
tached. At night time during the winter the side 
of the box facing south was closed by a frame cov- 
ered with burlap. At all other times it was kept 
open. 

Farmers' Bulletin No. 574, issued by the U. S. 
Department of Agriculture, has the following to 
say about poultry houses: 

33 



"The prime essentials in poultry houses are fresh air, 
dryness, sunlight and space enough to keep the birds 
comfortable. No particular style of house is peculiarly 
adapted to any section of this country. A house which 
gives satisfaction in Maine will also give good results in 
Texas or California, but it is preferable to build more open 
and consequently less expensive houses in the South than 
in the North. The best site for the house depends prin- 
cipally on the local conditions. The location should have 
good water and air drainage, so that the floor and yards 
will be dry, while the house should not occupy a low 
pocket or hollow in which cold air settles and it should 
be situated for convenience in management and adapted 
to the available land. Wherever possible a southern or 
southeastern exposure should be selected, although this is 
not essential if there is any good reason for facing the 
house in a different direction." 

This paragraph, it seems to me, about 
completely states the case. The only change I 
would suggest is more insistence on the necessity 
of a southern exposure. No poultry house should 
be built that does not provide for the admission of 
direct sunlight at least part of the day, both for the 
comfort and warmth of the fowl during cold 
weather and for sanitary reasons at all seasons. 

The bulletin just quoted describes a style of 
colony house used at the government poultry farm 
at Beltsville, Maryland, with a capacity for twenty- 
five hens. This house is shed style, ten feet long 
by seven feet wide, six feet two inches high in front 
and four feet in the rear. It has a door in one end 
and more than twice the window and other open 
space on the high side, than the house I have pre- 

34 



viously described. In the East with its hot nights 
poultry require more open space than they do in 
states where sleeping under a blanket is the rule for 
people. 

The houses here described are of simple con- 
struction. People who have the means and esthetic 
tastes can add as many frills as they want to. Poul- 
try houses should be in harmony with the surround- 
ings. Manifestly a coop that would appear neat in 
the rear of a modest cottage might seem shabby on 
the back lot of a ten thousand dollar residence. A 
scratching shed partly inclosed is a great conveni- 
ence. During cold weather and when snow is on 
the ground it adds to the comfort of the fowl and 
saves work for the attendant. 



35 



Poultry Hygienics 

CLEANLINESS. 

As the environments under which fowl are 
kept become artificialized they require more care. 
In her wild native state the hen looks after her own 
welfare. Sometimes under domestication she has 
nearly to do the same thing. On a good many 
farms little attention is paid to poultry. The farmer 
and his family have more valuable live stock to 
look after and besides are generally busy. But 
poultry on the farm with unlimited range and other 
favorable natural conditions require some care. 
They require more care with limited range and 
most looking after and attention of all when con- 
fined in small two by four plants. It is well to keep 
these things in mind in planning a routine of poul- 
try chores. No set of rules or instructions can 
govern all cases. Some writers say that the drop- 
pings should be removed from the coop daily. In 
small box-like coops this may not only be neces- 
sary but the coop should be scrubbed out at least 
once a week. When the fowl have more rooms 
such extreme care is not necessary. In average 
sized coops removing the droppings once a week 
will do 1 . Where there are no dropping boards, and 
there need be none where fowls have plenty of 
range, once a month may be sufficient. No matter 
how often the dropping boards are cleaned they be- 
come tainted and in order to avoid any danger from 

36 



this source the roosting poles should be at least ten 
inches above the dropping boards. 

In order to make the work of cleaning easy as 
possible, roosts, dropping boards, nest boxes, etc., 
should be removable. Inaccessible spaces and cor- 
ners are prolific breeders of lice and disease germs. 

So we see that the poultryman with limited 
quarters has to work harder to keep his flock in 
good condition. However, as a recompense he gen- 
erally gets better returns. The United States census 
report gives the average annual farm egg produc- 
tion at five dozen per hen. The back-lotter, with 
his flock of a dozen or two of hens who can't nearly 
double this, isn't much of a poultryman. Edward 
Brown gives an account of a man employed in one 
of the gas works in London, who, in the heart of 
the city, kept six hens upon a plot of ground about 
six by six feet, which included coop and all, and 
who got one thousand eggs annually. 

The small coops, or boxes, where the growing 
chicks are housed, either when with the hen or aft- 
erward need close attention. These coops always 
have board floors, or should have. The droppings 
should not only be removed frequently, but it is a 
good plan to wash out the coop at regular intervals. 
The garden hose comes in handy for this purpose. 
In early summer when the chicks are sufficiently 
grown to be past the danger of getting chilled it is 
a good plan to keep the bottom of their coop cov- 
ered with sand or loose soil, which should be regu- 

37 



larly removed and replaced. The soil absorbs the 
droppings and prevents the immediate contact 
which a bare board floor gives. It is also a pretty 
good preventative against lice. The dust in the soil 
kills the lice. 

PURE DRINKING WATER. 

Drilling pans should be kept clean. Standing 
water always forms a sediment which gathers to 
itself not only the germs contained in the water, 
but microbes floating in the air and bacteria from 
diseased birds in the flock as well. The pans should 
be washed out daily. This takes but a few seconds 
and can be done at time of filling. It is also a good 
plan to scald them out occasionally with boiling 
water. In the fall if any of the flock begin sneez- 
ing or show other evidence of having a cold or 
becoming roupy, use Anti-Germ in the water as 
directed. Anti-Germ can be obtained from dealers 
handling Empire preparations. 

If possible avoid the presence of stagnant 
pools of water within reach of your flock. A hen 
or chick will drink foul, stagnant water reeking 
with filth off the ground and out of puddles in 
preference to the purest water that may be placed 
into a drinking vessel. For countless ages the hen 
in her native state drank off the ground and she 
apparently still retains that instinct. In warm 
weather the drinking vessels should be placed in a 
shade covered position, not merely to keep the 

38 



water cool but to make it easily accessible to the 
fowl that would perhaps go without rather than 
venture into the blazing sun to quench their thirst. 
In winter water only moderately cold should be 
supplied. To do her best laying the hen must drink 
freely. She will hardly do- this if the water sup- 
plied her is constantly ice cold. 

THE DUST BATH. 

I sometimes think that the term dust bath used 
in connection with poultry is not quite accurate. 
The popular theory has it that the hen dusts herself 
solely to get rid of lice. But is this a fact? I know 
from personal experience that you can take a hen, 
fumigate her, absolutely rid her of lice, lock her 
in a louse and mite-proof coop for a day, turn her 
out and the first thing she will strike for is the dust 
bath if one is conveniently accessible. I use the 
term dust bath here in its popular sense. As a 
matter of fact the hen will rarely take a dust bath 
if she has any choice in the matter. She takes her 
bath when such a convenience is accessible in loose, 
moist earth, that is anything but dust. The ground 
under bushes, hedges, etc., is a favorite wallowing 
places for fowl. Lousy or otherwise, the healthy 
hen apparently takes delight in settling down and 
with feet, legs and body, works the loose, moist 
dirt well into' her plumage. She reminds me in this 
respect of the healthy horse that will roll as regu- 
larly as he eats. 

39 



Prof. Horace Atwood suggests that perhaps 
the hen when dusting gets a sensation somewhat 
similar to that of the small boy when he goes out 
barefooted and works his toes into the loose earth. 
I think we are warranted in assuming that the dust 
bath, or more properly speaking, dirt bath, helps 
to protect the hen against lice and conduces to her 
physical welfare in other respects as well. 

When poultry is yarded part of the lot should 
be dug up regularly and the soil raked fine so as to 
give full opportunity for dusting. It is not good 
practice to throw ashes in the yard. Ashes deprive 
the plumage of luster and make the feathers brittle. 

SUNLIGHT AND SHADE. 

Sunlight is probably the best germicide and 
purifier we have. Dark, damp places foster the 
growth of disease germs and insect vermin. This 
is one reason why poultry houses should face the 
south. Direct sunshine is fatal to bacteria, but in 
moderate quantities is beneficient to higher forms 
of animal life. Nearly all animals, man included, 
do better when part of their lives is spent in open 
sunshine. 

Most people know from experience the com- 
fortable sensation furnished by the sunny side of a 
sheltering building on a cold day. Poultry enjoy 
this sensation. If you want to see this demon- 
strated watch your fowl on bright days during cold 
weather and see how they crowd into the sunshine. 

40 



Except during storms, windows and doors of poul- 
try houses, during daytime, should be wide open, 
even in coldest weather. More sunlight is thus ad- 
mitted and the hardening the birds get from being 
in the fresh, crisp air better fits them to- withstand 
the cold when they are on the roosts at night. For 
this reason houses with all glass front, or nearly 
so, are objectionable. The glass radiates the heat 
into the house during the day time, making it ex- 
cessively warm, and at night it radiates the heat 
out, making the house too cold. The birds softened 
by the unusual warmth during the day suffer from 
the cold at night. 

In recent years canvas in place of glass has 
come into considerable use in poultry house con- 
struction. Canvas or burlap, which is much to be 
preferred, keeps out direct drafts and yet admits 
fresh air. It also keeps out sunshine, which some 
people seem to overlook. When all the windows 
are permanently covered with canvas the plan is 
highly objectionable. Canvas should be so used 
as to make provision for the admission of sunlight. 
This can be done by having special openings in the 
front of the coop, which may be covered with can- 
vas, leaving the regular windows free, or by hav- 
ing the canvas attached to frames that can be taken 
out and inserted at will. 

While in winter poultry should be provided 
with sunshine, in summer they must be protected 
against it. Shade is, if anything, more essential to 

41 



the welfare of poultry in summer than sunshine is 
in winter. This may be better understood when it 
is remembered that practically the same cocat of 
feathers that protects the hen during the coldest 
weather, she still carries on her back .in the warm 
season. Therefore, if a hen is to thrive properly 
she must be given opportunity for getting into the 
shade during the heated months. 

Hot weather is especially hard upon young 
chicks. When compelled to run around in the glare 
of mid-summer's sun their growth is stunted and 
the rate of mortality is high. 

No place is better adapted for the health and 
comfort of poultry during the summer months than 
an orchard. Here it is always shady and cook 
However, a tree or trees in the back yard will 
answer nearly as well. 

In the absence of trees other provision must 
be made for shade. Most any temporary structure 
that will ward off the sun's rays will answer the 
purpose. Tame sunflowers can afford considerable 
shade during the latter part of the season. There 
are various kinds of vines that will grow along and 
over pole structures that also' answer very well. 

FRESH AIR. 

One of the things people are slowest in learn- 
ing is the value of fresh air. In a recent number 
of "Outdoor Life," Dr. W. P. Northrup of New 
York, a noted specialist of children's diseases, 

42 



writes of his pioneer experiences in the treatment 
of diseases in fresh air. When a dozen years ago 
he dared go* against all current methods of treating 
pneumonia and placed a child in open air he was 
called crazy and threatened with dire punishment 
should his experiment fail. But after he demon- 
strated that fresh air was the best medicine for those 
suffering from pneumonia, measles, whooping 
cough and even for weak, sickly babies, balconies 
began to appear and now nearly every hospital in 
New York has its open sleeping provisions. 

Tuberculosis, the great white plague, is losing 
some of its terrors since doctors are resorting to the 
use of sunlight and fresh air. But a large number 
of people still live in houses with closed windows 
and doors, deliberately depriving themselves of the 
most essential and cheapest requisite of physical 
well being, pure air. And as they treat themselves 
so they treat their poultry, if they happen to have 
any. 

Birds are animals of the air. It is their ele- 
ment. The domestic turkey and guinea fowl will 
roost in the highest tree 'through snow storm and 
blizzard with apparent comfort and good health. 
Our other barnyard poultry will thrive under con- 
siderable more exposure than is popularly supposed. 
In my coops the windows are never closed and ex- 
cepting a few months during the coldest weather 
the doors are open the year around. Just to> see how 
much my birds could stand I have during different 

43 



seasons left doors and windows wide open the entire 
winter. I have at times, when there had been a 
snow storm during the night, gone into the coops 
the next morning and found a foot of snow inside 
the door entrance and snow on the backs of some of 
my hens. Rather hard on the stock, some may 
think. But my hens remained healthy through it 
all. Understand, I kept my birds thus exposed for 
experiment's sake. I demonstrated to my own sat- 
isfaction that poultry could stand a whole lot of cold 
and still do well. 

I do not advocate such extreme methods of 
housing. With fair-sized coops, not over-crowded, 
I believe the better plan is to close the doors at 
night during the winter season, but leave the win- 
dows open, or at least partly open. 

During summer poultry will do- best with sim- 
ply an overhead protection. However, as the aver- 
age poultryman must make the same coop do for all 
seasons he should see to it that during warm 
weather his coops get as much ventilation as possi- 
ble. I am writing now of stock that is matured, or 
at least partly so. Birds that are so young that they 
are not yet feathered out require more warmth. 

Poultry kept in open coops during summer and 
fall will gradually get hardened to inclement 
weather and do better than when excessively pam- 
pered. 

Nothing is more likely to cause sneezing, colds 
and resultant roup than insufficient ventilation. The 

44 



temperature of birds is high, the amount of car- 
bonic gas exhaled is very large and rapidly poisons 
the air. When the birds are compelled to breathe 
and rebreathe this air, trouble generally follows. 

While poultry will endure a good deal of ex- 
posure there is one inclemency against which they 
should be protected whenever possible. That is 
walking around in snow or even cold mud. Nothing 
will more quickly interfere with egg-laying than 
this. Poultry should always have a dry place upon 
which to exercise and feed. This may be either a 
roomy scratching shed or a plot of ground on the 
outside kept free from snow. It is also essential 
that the coops be kept dry. Here in the West we 
have little trouble from damp houses. However, 
in sections where humidity is greater considerable 
disease comes from this source. Concerning this a 
recent bulletin, issued by the Maine Experiment 
Station has the following to say: 

"Of all unfavorable environmental conditions into 
which poultry may, by bad management be brought, a 
damp house is probably the worst. Nothing will diminish 
the productivity of a flock so quickly and surely as will 
dampness in the house, and nothing is so certain and 
speedy an excitant to roup and kindred ills." 

I want to give one word of caution on the sub- 
ject of fresh air. Poultry that is accustomed to 
warm coops should not be changed suddenly to so- 
called open front, or cold houses. The principle is 
similar to that of a man working all his time in a 

4s 



warm room. He can not endure the exposure of 
one constantly out of doors. To do so he must 
gradually accustom himself to changed conditions. 
So with poultry. 

KEEP YOUR BIRDS DOCILE, 

Egg-laying is a sexual function. Its proper 
performance depends somewhat upon environment. 
Everything else being even, the hen that has the 
fewest worries will lay the most eggs. Yes, a hen 
has worries. She is worried when she flees in terror 
at the approach of her owner or attendant, as I have 
seen hens do. The hen is worried by too' frequent 
visits from strangers. These strangers may be 
people or dogs, cats or other animals. At the New 
York State Experiment Station no visitors are al- 
lowed to* the pens from which record laying is ex- 
pected. 

Fowls are worried by being changed frequently 
from pen to< pen. Fanciers sometimes take advan- 
tage of this fact tO' postpone the laying period of 
pullets. The fowl appears at her best as a pullet 
just before she begins to lay. At that time of her 
life she has reached the proportions of a mature hen 
and still retains her pullet bloom and symmetry. 
The pullet is generally less presentable as a show 
bird after she starts to lay. To prevent this some 
fanciers transfer their pullets intended for the show 
room frequently from one pen to' another. 

Fowl respond readily to 1 kind treatment. If 

46 



the poultryman will spend a little time occasionally 
with his flock in simple observation, either in the 
yard or coop, he will accustom them to his presence 
and also get first hand knowledge about the real 
condition of his birds. 

With poultry, as in other lines, the chief dif- 
ference between the man who understands his busi- 
ness and the tyro, is the ability to discern. The 
novice looks into the yard and sees a flock of poul- 
try. That is about all he does see, just chickens. 
The poultryman worthy of the name sees more. He 
takes in at a glance the health and general condi- 
tion of the flock. He notes how in color, size, shape 
and symmetry the birds comply with standard breed 
requirements. Here is a bird with a sallow comb. 
Another has long, overgrown toe nails. Some of 
the flock may be sneezing and running at the nose. 
Or, perhaps, the whole flock stands huddled together 
with heads drawn in and feathers ruffled, looking 
dumpish. Such signs are warnings of breakers 
ahead. People with aptitude for handling poultry 
soon learn to recognize them and take steps accord- 
ingly. Practical knowledge of poultry can be ob- 
tained only by close observation and actual han- 
dling of the birds. When this is done in a kindly 
way it does much to keep the birds quiet and docile. 

EXERCISE. 

"Keep the hens busy," is a maxim the poultry- 
man should keep in mind. Continued failure to ob- 

47 



serve this maxim will result in decreased produc- 
tion. Regular egg-laying is a highly specialized 
function. To keep this up the hen must be healthy 
and vigorous. All animal life requires exercise to 
keep in this condition. On the farm, or wherever 
the fowl have unlimited range, the matter of exer- 
cise need be given little thought. About all that is 
necessary is to see that they are not surfeited with 
feed. Where poultry are confined in yards the grain 
ration should be buried in litter and the birds com- 
pelled to scratch for it. Owing to inclemency of 
weather and for other reasons it is hardly practical 
to have the litter in the open yard. Am open scratch 
shed is a great convenience, but where this is not to 
be had the litter may be placed under the dropping 
boards in the coop. Straw, hay or leaves from trees 
may be used for litter. 

In good-sized yards the grain may be scattered 
about and the fowl compelled to look for it. Or if 
the soil is light and sandy it may be buried under- 
neath. The ingenious poultryman will find various 
ways by which he can induce his birds to take the 
needed exercise. 



48 



Hatching with Hens 

The most essential factor in maintaining a 
poultry plant is renewing- the flock. Failure here 
can not be retrieved. Inability to hatch and grow 
to maturity good, healthy, vigorous stock is a most 
prolific cause in putting people out of the poultry 
business. I will not dwell upon the necessity of vig- 
orous, well-mated birds in the breeding pen. The 
need of good ancestry is almost universally recog- 
nized. 

Having desirable eggs, shall they be incubated 
naturally or by artificial means ? After all has been 
said on both sides the most that can be claimed for 
the incubator is that it does as well as the hen. The 
same is true of the artificial brooder. I am not de- 
precating the incubator. It has done wonders in 
advancing the poultry industry. But experienced 
breeders, as a rule, use the hen when a limited num- 
ber of chicks are to be hatched, and of necessity 
resort to artificial means when doing business on a 
large scale. 

In hatching by natural means, it is desirable to 
have a hen with the instinct to brood strongly de- 
veloped. One that will stay on the nest the full 
term and that has sense enough to cover properly 
the eggs and to get on and off the nest without 
breaking them. There is a great difference among 
hens in this respect. 

Some poultry breeders set their hens in a sep- 

49 



arate room or coop, place feed and water within 
reach, and then trust the hens to leave and return 
to the nests at will. With a little watching at the 
start this often does very well. The safer plan is 
to set your hens, close the nests and have an ap- 
pointed time each day to release them. The setting 
hen should be off the nest from ten to thirty minutes 
each day, depending upon the condition of the 
weather. Her conduct while off the nest plainly 
shows two things necessary to her well being. First, 
she is very busy. She runs about spending a few 
seconds here and there. She apparently wants to 
stretch her limbs. This is natural. She has been 
in a somewhat cramped position for twenty-four 
hours and she needs exercise. The hen with plenty 
of room to exercise will bring off a better hatch 
than when confined in small limited quarters. Set- 
ting hens when closely confined often develop seri- 
ous diarrhea. In the second place, the setting hen 
does a good deal of dusting. She does so even 
when free from lice. She shows evident satisfac- 
tion in rolling and wallowing in the dust or moist 
earth. Instinct teaches her to take no chances with 
lice. Unfortunately this lesson is not always con- 
veyed to her owner. It should be a rule from which 
there is no< exception to dust every hen at the time 
of setting and once or twice before she comes off 
with a good louse powder. In her native state the 
hen makes her nest in a secluded spot, free from the 
danger of lice. When handled by man she is often 

50 



compelled to endure the torture of bringing off a 
hatch in a coop and nest alive with lice, mites, bed 
bugs and other insect vermin. Small wonder that 
the ravages of these pests so often drive a hen from 
her nest or worse still, cause her death. 

Corn is often recommended as an exclusive 
diet for setting hens. My experience has been that 
they will do better on a varied grain diet. There is 
no danger of the setting hen overeating. She should 
be encouraged in this respect. Corn and wheat 
given on alternate days will do very well. The set- 
ting hen relishes a little green food which she can 
eat with perfect safety. The hen that steals her 
nest ordinarily gets all the green food she wants. 
When a number of hens are set at the same time it 
is not necessary that each keep the identical nest 
during the entire hatch. Some poultrymen prefer 
that they trade nests. This for the reason that the 
amount of heat given off by different hens varies 
and by having them change nests the total hatch is 
more uniform. 

As soon as the hatch is over remove the chicks 
and hen to some roomy box or coop, preferably 
darkened, that is if the chicks are to be raised by 
the hen. Otherwise break her of 1 her broodiness, or 
if she is a robust hen and it is desired to set her 
again, clean out the nest, put in new straw, dust 
the hen and she is again ready for business. Ordi- 
narily it does not pay to have a hen bring off two 
hatches in succession. It is good practice to set two 

51 



hens at the same time and after the hatch is off the 
chicks can be given to one hen, or better still, both 
hens and chicks can be placed into one box or coop 
and allowed to go that way, that is if the hens don't 
quarrel. The advantage in doing this is that if one 
of the hens weans her chicks early the other one is 
still left to take care of them. 

Nowhere does the brooding of chicks require 
more attention than in the mountain states. Owing 
to the cool nights, which we have in every month of 
the year, chicks require to be kept warm at night 
until they are nearly two months old. During the 
day they should be protected from the burning sun. 
Most hens will desert their chicks before they are 
four weeks old and in that case artificial brooding 
should be resorted to. A good fireless brooder comes 
in handy for this purpose. 

One of the most practical and safest ways of 
bringing up a brood of chicks is to confine the hen 
in a box about two feet square each way, slatted in 
front so that the chicks can come and go at will. 
In this way the hen will not tire out the chicks 
walking them around, and in case of storm the 
chicks readily find shelter. Also the hen will brood 
the chicks as long as you want her to. Not being 
able to get away she can't desert them. 

In tending to> setting hens always lookout for 
broken eggs. An egg broken and its contents 
smeared over other eggs will kill the germs in the 
other eggs. A fertile egg being incubated breathes 

52 



through the pores of the shell. It must have fresh 
air the same as any other organism. When the 
pores of the shell become closed and remain so for 
several hours fresh air is shut out and life becomes 
extinct. Eggs soiled from broken eggs or other 
causes should be washed as soon as discovered in 
luke-warm water. 

Should the hen stay off the nest for several 
hours, the hatch is not necessarily interfered with. 
In cases of this kind never give up the ship. I once 
unknowingly shut a hen out of her nest from six 
o'clock in the evening until seven the next morning. 
The nest was in an open yard together with several 
others ,and the temperature during the night, I am 
sure, was under sixty degrees Fahrenheit. When I 
discovered my mistake in the morning the eggs to 
all appearances were stone cold. Without any hope 
of getting results, I replaced the hen on the nest 
and in less than a week she hatched eleven chicks 
out of thirteen eggs. 



53 



Hatching witn Incubators 

The incubator has the advantage over the hen 
in that it is always ready. You don't have to wait 
for it to get broody. You can bring off the hatch 
early or late, as you choose, provided the eggs are 
at hand. Most of the specialized branches of the 
poultry industry have been made possible through 
the invention of the incubator. The baby chick 
trade, the production of broilers in mid-winter, the 
operation of large egg farms stocked exclusively 
with non-setting breeds, all depend upon the incu- 
bator for their existence. However, extensive egg 
and poultry farming can be carried on without re- 
sorting to artificial means. In the famed Rhode 
Island and South Shore districts, where for some- 
thing like a century exclusive poultry fanning has 
been carried on, the use of the incubator is almost 
unknown. Chicks are hatched and brooded there in 
primitive fashion with good results to> the producer. 

Artificial hatching and rearing of chicks has 
been carried on in Egypt and China for centuries. 

In both countries eggs are hatched in ovens 
especially built for that purpose. These ovens are 
crude affairs and simple to operate, but they pro- 
duce uniform results surpassing anything of the 
kind in this country. This is probably due to the 
fact that the climate in those countries is such that 
eggs can be hatched in almost any kind of a devise. 

The man or woman intending to< purchase an 

54 



incubator is often puzzled by the question of what 
machine to' buy. All are advertised as best, although 
some cost twice what others do. Nearly all the 
cheaper machines are heated with water while the 
higher-priced ones use hot air. Both systems of 
heating have their advantages and disadvantages. 
When the lamp goes out a tank of water will hold 
its temperature longer than a body of hot air, but 
this is generally more than equalized by the heavier 
case which the hot air machine has. Water tanks 
frequently become leaky after a season or two of 
use and so interfere with the hatch. 

What machine to buy should depend largely 
upon the conditions under which it is to> be oper- 
ated. When the incubator is to be set up in the 
kitchen or living room of the house, where it is 
under surveillance most of the time and the temper- 
ature of the room varies but little, most any kind of 
a machine will give satisfactory results. Under dif- 
ferent environments, in an incubator cellar, for in- 
stance, or detached house, where the attendant only 
makes occasional calls and where there are pro- 
longed changes of temperature, a machine with a 
substantial double walled case, such as the higher- 
priced ones have, is easily worth the increased cost. 

Every manufacturer sends with his machine 
printed instructions, which it is well to follow. But 
there are some questions over which the manufac- 
turers are at sea the same as everybody else. I once 
read an address by a manufacturer of incubators in 

55 



which he stated that he generally moulted in the 
fall the theories he had accumulated in the preced- 
ing spring. Take the question of moisture. We 
are no further along than when we started. All 
that is known, or supposed to be known, is that in 
artificial hatching, moisture in some form should be 
supplied. When the hen hatches no moisture need 
be supplied by the attendant. I long ago quit 
sprinkling eggs set under a hen and I think I get 
my share of ioo per cent, hatches. No one has ever 
discovered that dry or wet climate makes any differ- 
ence in the hatches of wild bird life. 

Having gotten a good hatch the real work be- 
gins. Many an ambitious poultryman has lost all 
the advantages of a successful hatch through im- 
proper handling of stock afterwards. First comes 
the question of brooding. Every manufacturer of 
incubators also puts out a brooder equipped for arti- 
ficial heating, with which he sends full instructions. 
However, a lamp-heated brooder is not absolutely 
necessary. Under favorable conditions broods of 
chicks running up to fifty can be handled in a fire- 
less brooder of simplest construction. 

Take an ordinary cracker box, cut a hole 2x2 
inches on one side at the bottom, nail cleats on the 
inside of the box six or seven inches from the bot- 
tom. Then make a frame of wood that will fit into 
the box resting on the cleats. To this frame tack 
a piece of flannel cloth with the center sagging so 
that it will rest upon the back of the chicks. Cover 

56 



bottom of box with a gunny sack, over which put 
chaff or alfalfa leaves and your brooder is complete. 
With such a brooder I have raised successive lots of 
chicks running as high as forty to a brood, with 
scarcely any loss. Chicks rapidly outgrow brooder 
capacity and as they increase in size more brooder 
space must be provided. A brooder that is just right 
when the chicks are hatched may be entirely too 
small when they are a month old. Every brooder 
artificially heated or fireless, to be practical, must be 
so arranged that it permits the chick to regulate the 
amount of heat it receives. In other words the ob- 
ject in building a brooder should be to make a 
shelter for chicks that permits them to approach or 
retire from the center of warmth at will. Every 
brooder that is not built according to this principle 
is faulty and will fail to give satisfactory results. In 
the practical artificially heated brooder the center of 
heat will be higher in temperature than the well 
being of the chicks demand. This excess of warmth 
will be neutralized by outer cooler circles. The 
chick guided by its senses will find the place and 
temperature suitable to its wants. 

With a fireless brooder the center of warmth is 
formed at the point where the chicks huddle to- 
gether. If the temperature outside of the brooder 
is too low or if the covering is insufficient the chicks 
are liable to smother one another in their efforts to 
keep warm. Equally bad results will follow if, ow- 
ing to overcrowding, excessive covering, or high 

57 



outside temperature the brooder is excessively 

warm. 

The results which he gets from brooding and 
rearing his young stock well measure the capacity 
of the poultryman. If he succeeds here the rest 
should be easy. 



Feeds and Feeding 

The broad rule for feeding, growing and lay- 
ing" stock is, Give them all they mill eat. I place 
emphasis upon this because the notion that poultry 
must be partially starved to do well is still current 
in certain quarters. So far as quantity is concerned 
the principle governing the diet of healthy children 
applies with equal force to growing chicks. A 
healthy boy wants a square meal at least three times 
a day and often sustenance between meals. No sane 
mother thinks of sending her children from the 
table hungry. At least not while victuals are at 
hand. Whatever other foolish or injurious prac- 
tices people may indulge in they generally make no 
mistake here. They realize that nourishing diet in 
ample quantity, is necessary for normal growth of 
bone, muscle and body. 

Not only should chicks be fed according to- this 
rule, but laying hens as well. This does not mean 
that food should be kept constantly before chickens. 
The stockmen, who fatten cattle for market in the 
corn states of the Central West understand the prin- 
ciples of feeding. They realize that they must put 
grain and plenty of it into their animals to get fat 
and prime beef. To do> this they do not give their 
stock access to feed at all times. As a stock feeder 
once told me, he tried to keep the appetite of his 
feeders on the wire edge. In this way they ate more 
and consequently put on more weight. 

59 



Chickens of all ages will eat more and do bet- 
ter when their appetite is kept a little on edge. There 
is another reason why poultry should not be sur- 
feited with feed. No matter how fed, part of the 
feed is bound to be eaten off the ground or floor. 
When more is given them than they will clean up, 
the excess becomes mixed with droppings and other 
filth and is finally eaten, filth and all. 

Mature stock held over for another season after 
they have quit laying should not be fed according 
to the rule just given. In another chapter I have 
compared the laying hen to an engine running under 
pressure. When a steam engine stops and the fire- 
man keeps throwing in fuel just as before, some- 
thing is liable to happen. When a flock of laying 
hens slackens up laying in the fall and their owner 
continues to keep them on full feed, something gen- 
erally happens. What happens is that his birds get 
so lubberly fat that they become unsuited for layers 
and fit only for the meat block. As the hens cease 
laying they should be cut down on feed so as not to 
get over-fat. This is especially true of the general 
purpose and Asiatic breeds. With the Mediterran- 
eans the case is somewhat different. They rarely 
get sufficiently fat to interfere with laying. 

Sometimes during the laying season in a flock 
one or more hens become excessively fat. If such 
hens are closely watched it willl be seen that they 
are not laying. Their owner may conclude that they 
are not laying because they are too fat, when the 

60 



trouble really is the other way. They have become 
over-fat because they are not laying-. 

In such cases give Empire Poultry Powder as 
directed, which will cause the digestive and ovarian 
functions to become normal and the hen will shell 
out eggs instead of putting on fat. 

GRAIN. 

In any practical ration for poultry the prin- 
ciple constituent is grain and its derivatives. By 
derivatives I mean bran shorts, middling, corn chops, 
or other clean mill stuff. Among grains wheat and 
corn hold first place. It seems hardly necessary to 
discuss the foolish idea occasionally advanced that 
corn is not good for chickens. The best answer that 
I can give to that is that something like one-half of 
the poultry raised in the United States gets hardly 
any grain except corn and they do well on it. After 
wheat and corn come barley and ots. Poultry will 
thrive upon any one of these grains when given to- 
gether with other food. But there must be occa- 
sional change. No matter how nutritious or appe- 
tizing a food may be, poultry soon tire of it, if there 
is no variety of diet:. So at least two grains should 
be fed. 

Locality should determine the principle grain 
fed. A poultry plant, like any other business, 
should be run with an eye to economy. In the 
states where corn is cheaper than oats and generally 
half the price of wheat, corn is almost the universal 

61 



grain fed to chickens. In Bulletin 184, issued by 
the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, it is 
said : 

"Our results show that corn is a most valuable grain 
for poultry. Its palatability and high digestibility has 
brought it into much favor with all our poultrymen." 

In Colorado and other Western states, where 
most of the time wheat is as cheap or cheaper than 
oats and only a little higher than corn, wheat is the 
grain most used by poultry keepers. However, corn 
should be a close second. In winter these grains 
may be fed in equal parts. In summer it is well to 
have the corn constitute not over one-third of the 
grain ration, owing to its heating properties. Along 
with wheat and corn fowls will relish an occasional 
change to rolled barley and oats. 

WET AND DRY MASH. 

From one-fourth to- one-third of the total ration 
consumed by the flock should consist of soft feed 
composed principally of bran. With the bran may 
be mixed corn chops, middling or other mill stuffs. 
Add also a tablespoonful of Empire Poultry Powder 
for every ten hens fed. The soft feed may be given 
wet or dry. In recent years dry mash feeding has 
been much in vogue. When thus fed the mash is 
kept before the fowls constantly. Some of the ad- 
vantages of this system are that the birds never get 

62 



very hungry and the mash does not sour in summer 
nor freeze in the trough during the winter. 

Wet mash feeding requires a little more care 
and attention on the part of the poultryman. No 
more than the flock will eat at a meal should be 
given at one time. The claim sometimes made that 
wet mash feeding causes white diarrhea is utterly 
without warrant. Chicks fed a wet mash sometimes 
get white diarrhea, just as they sometimes do when 
given the dry mash. The form in which the mash 
is fed has nothing to do with this disease except 
that a sloppy mash may cause bowel trouble. When 
fed wet, the mash should be moistened and stirred 
enough to become crumbly. It should not be sloppy. 

Chickens prefer the mash wet and I believe a 
majority of poultry keepers the country over feed 
it in that form. In cold weather it is a good plan 
to scald the mash with boiling water and feed while 
still warm. Bran is wholesome for fowls, except 
setting hens, at every stage of growth and at all 
seasons. 

GREEN FEED. 

Green feed in the shape of alfalfa, clover, lawn 
clippings, vegetable tops or even certain weeds 
should be given in season. During that part of the 
year when green feed is not available dried alfalfa 
leaves make a good substitute. In a paper read be- 
fore the American Poultry Association at Niagara 
Falls several years ago, Professor Horace Atwood, 

63 



of the West Virginia Experiment Station, stated 
that the experiments at the station demonstrated 
that a liberal supply, as compared with a scant sup- 
ply, of green feed increased the egg production by 
two dozen eggs per hen per year. 

LIME. 

Lime in some form is absolutely necessary to 
the laying hen. It may be given as oyster shell, 
which also answers as grit, or it may be fed in ordi- 
nary lime and sand morter. Air-slacked lime mois- 
tened with water until it has the consistency of 
paste, and then allowed to dry, answers very well. 
Lime should never be given in its raw state. 

CHARCOAL. 

A good many progressive poultrymen believe 
that charcoal is rarely needed in their yards.. Char- 
coal is an absorbent. As an agent for this purpose 
it is unequaled. It may be given with advantage to 
fowl suffering from sour crop, diarrhea, or kindred 
diseases. Before being used charcoal should be 
warmed in an oven. This drives out impurities. 
Only as much should be placed before the fowl as 
they will clean up in a few hours. Charcoal in hop- 
pers placed around the yard or coop and constantly 
kept there, where it absorbs all kinds of impurities 
and filth, is worse than useless. 



64 



MEAT. 

Poultry relish a little meat along with their ra- 
tions, especially laying hens. Whenever possible it 
should be fed, either as fresh meat or in the dried 
and preserved form put out by the packing houses 
for poultry use. However meat is not absolutely 
necessary for the welfare of poultry. They will 
thrive without it if given a wholesome diet along 
other lines. 

Chicks should not be fed until they are at least 
a day old. After that they require a diet similar to 
that fed older fowl except that grain for chicks 
should be broken small so that it can be easily swal- 
lowed and assimilated. 

RATIONS. 

The beginner often likes to know in stated 
terms just what quantity to> feed his birds. So much 
depends upon the condition, environment and pro- 
ductivity of the stock, that it is practically impossi- 
ble to lay down a hard and fast rule governing the 
number of pounds, pints or bushels of grain to be 
fed a flock of poultry under all circumstances. The 
poultryman must learn to feed according to appetite, 
condition and results and this he can learn only from 
experience. However, as a rough guide, I would 
suggest the following ration for a flock of twelve 
medium-sized fowl. Morning, a mash composed of 
four parts bran, two parts corn chops, one-half part 

65 



meat scraps and one part alfalfa leaves. Mix with 
water until whole mash is crumbly. In winter use 
boiling water and feed while still warm. At least 
three times a week add a heaping tablespoon full of 
Empire Poultry Powder. Feed as much of this 
mash as the birds will clean up in thirty minutes. 
At noon give a quart of cracked corn and at night 
one pint of wheat. In feeding by measure always 
remember that cracked corn, rolled barley or oats 
are bulkier than whole corn or wheat and therefore 
measure up more. I know from experience that for 
the number of fowl mentioned this ration about fills 
the requirements. But as before stated the quan- 
tity and kind of feed given depends upon the condi- 
tion of the stock. Professor J. C. Graham, who* is 
in charge of the poultry work at the Massachusetts 
Agricultural College, in discussing this matter, 
says : 

"Our rations are varied, depending somewhat upon 
the condition of the hens. We go into the houses occa- 
sionally at night and feel of the hens to see whether or 
not they are over-fat. If they are, more wheat and oats 
and less corn are given." 



66 



Poultry Pests 

THIEVES. 

The hardest pest to deal with is the human 
biped who prowls around at night and robs the 
roosts of his neighbors, I have heard of communi- 
ties where thievery of this kind was so common that 
people quite generally refrained from raising poul- 
try. It is discouraging to have the results of your 
effort, time and money unlawfully appropriated by 
someone else. Part of the trouble is due to the fact 
that our laws and the public sentiment behind them 
are too lenient in dealing with poultry thieves. To 
steal a bolt of calico may mean a term in the peni- 
tentiary. But if the culprit steals instead fowls, let 
us say, worth $50, if caught and convicted, he will 
generally get off with a jail sentence not exceeding 
thirty days. Several years ago chicken thieves be- 
came so bold and persistent in Eastern Kansas that 
a number of fanciers drafted a bill making poultry 
stealing a felony, punishable by imprisonment in 
the state penitentiary. When the bill reached the 
legislature its demise was early. One member re- 
marking that no jury could be found that would 
send a man to the penitentiary for merely stealing 
chickens. That seemed to settle it. The bill did not 
pass. However, the State Poultry Association took 
up the matter and a succeeding legislature did place 
such a law upon the statute books. Under that law 

67 



Judge Smart, during the June, 19 14, session of the 
District court at Ottawa, Kansas, sentenced a man 
to a term in the penitentiary from one to five years 
for stealing five chickens after night. I believe that 
despoiled poultry keepers who have gone out in the 
morning to find the door of their coop broken open 
and their stock gone will quite generally say Amen 
to such a sentence. 

At one time in the early days of the West, horse 
stealing was common, but after it became the 
fashion to hang every horsethief upon apprehension 
depredations of 'this kind practically ceased. We 
are past the stage when people are supposed to take 
the law into their own hands, but a strict enforce- 
ment of existing laws, even though sometimes in- 
adequate, will make poultry property more secure. 

CATS. 

Our household friend, the domestic cat, causes 
much loss and annoyance, especially to the city back- 
lotter. The cat does not practice race suicide and 
in any well settled community its tribe is numerous. 
It's well-known fondness for young chicken often 
creates havoc in the luckless brood found in its vi- 
cinity. One active chicken-hungry cat can well nigh 
drive a poultry owner desperate, while three or four 
can put him out of business. 

On the farm a shotgun might end the career 
of a marauding feline, but in the city this is imprac- 
tical and forbidden by law. A good dog, prefer- 

68 



ably of the terrier breed, properly trained, can af- 
ford almost compete protection against losses of this 
kind. I know people who raise chickens without 
loss in thickly settled neighborhoods abounding with 
cats, that molest every other yard. The family dog 
protects the stock and woe to the feline that appears 
on the premises. Where it is not desirable or prac- 
ticable to keep a dog the most convenient protection 
against cats is a wire-covered run. If the place is 
small the entire yard can be covered, otherwise a 
small separate pen for the chicks may be bu f, t. A 
satisfactory collapsible pen for this purpose is de- 
scribed under the chapter on "Handy Appliances." 

RATS. 
There is no greater menace to chick life than 
a neighborhood infested with rats. While a cat will 
take perhaps a chick or two a day, rats frequently 
clean out an entire flock of young stock in one night. 
As a precautionary measure every poultryman 
should see that his premises are so constructed as 
not to harbor rodent vermin. Among other things, 
where wooden floors are used, have the floor at least 
several inches from the ground and use concrete 
construction where practical. But unless your neigh- 
bor makes similar efforts your work may be largely 
neutralized. In that event it becomes necessary to 
make the coops and houses rat-proof. As ventila- 
tion must be had at any cost, if stock is to remain 
healthy, it won't do simply to close windows and 

69 



doors. To provide fresh air and still have windows 
and doors secure against invasion of rats, small 
mesh woven wire should be used. This can be nailed 
over the window openings and nailed on light 
wooden frames which are inserted into 1 the door 
openings. Then dig a trench a foot deep all around 
the coop and place woven wire in the trench, nailing 
top of wire to the sill or bottom of coop. This pre- 
vents the rats from burrowing in. As rats commit 
most of their depredations at night, a coop so- pro- 
tected will minimize the damage they may do. 

UCE. 

The losses from thieves, cats and rats are slight 
compared with the havoc wrought by insect vermin. 
While the former slay their thousands, lice and 
mites slay ten thousands. Instructions to' beginners, 
poultry literature and bulletins teem with admoni- 
tions against these pests. Some writers gO ! so far 
as to say that overcoming lice on his premises and 
flock is the poultryman's greatest task. Often this 
is the case. Coops, roosts and nest boxes are liter- 
ally alive with vermin. Under such conditions the 
birds themselves are lousy, of course, and when they 
go to roost at night mites literally suck the life blood 
out of them. Even the ubiquitous bedbug does his 
full share in making life miserable for the feathered 
tribe. Needless to ! say, the hen that has constantly 
to fight insects won't thrive. 

Chicks raised under such conditions become 

70 



stunted and many of them die. The weaker the 
animal is, the less resistance it can offer to parasites 
and the more it suffers in consequence. 

The belief that lice are spontaneously gener- 
ated from accumulations of filth and dirt is still 
quite general. However, this theory has been thor- 
oughly exploded. Today scientists are agreed that 
all living things are descended from living parents 
of the same nature. Filth and dirt furnish conveni- 
ent breeding places for parasites, that is all, but then 
that is enough. No matter how clean fowls may 
be when conditions are favorable for their develop- 
ment, lice will appear. They are in this respect like 
weeds that constantly grow on cultivated land, even 
though we are unable to imagine how the seeds got 
there. Our wild birds are sometimes the means of 
infecting the domestic flock. Dr. N. W. Sanborn, 
the noted contributor to poultry journals, says that 
sparrows convey red mites. 

There are many varieties of lice, mites and 
flees which afflict poultry, but the kind oftenest in 
evidence may be placed into- two general classes, 
namely, the so-called mite, or blood-sucking para- 
site, and the common six-legged body louse, which 
lives upon the body or among the feathers of the 
fowl. Of the two the mite creates much the greater 
havoc. It lives in accumulated droppings or other 
filth, or in convenient hiding places in the coop and 
attacks the fowl at night. It's natural color is a 
dull gray, but it appears red after having filled itself 

71 



with the blood of its victim. For this reason it is 
commonly know as the red mite. 

Dr. D. E. Salmon, in his work, "Diseases of 
Poultry," estimates that the second generation from 
a louse may number twenty-five hundred individuals 
and the third generation may reach the enormous 
number of one hundred and twenty-five thousand, 
and all of these may be produced in the course of 
eight weeks. This prolificness, together with the in- 
difference of so 1 many poultry raisers, is responsible 
for most of the loss caused by parasites. One of 
the hardest things is to> convince people of the men- 
ace from lice. Nearly everyone is certain that there 
are none on his flock. Dr. P. T. Woods, in his 
work, "Parasites Affecting Poultry," says : 

"Ask almost any poultryman whether his fowls are 
lousy and the answer will be cocksure no. Ten times out 
of ten he is mistaken. I never saw an adult fowl that I 
would be willing to guarantee to be free from lice." 

The losses from lice and mites, enormous as 
they are in the aggregate, can be avoided. For the 
intelligent poultryman the lice problem is the least 
of his troubles. A few things done at the right time 
will keep the parasites down. See that the interior 
of the coop is kept clean and has plenty of sunlight. 
Treat all setting hens and laying nests with lice 
powder. And in this connection let me remind you 
that Empire Lice Killer is made to kill lice and it 
does so. It is put up for convenient use and is 

72 



harmless to chicks or larger fowl. A setting hen 
well dusted twice during the hatch will bring off 
her chicks without a louse. After the chicks are a 
week old, as a precautionary measure, treat them 
with Empire Lice Ointment, which will absolutely 
keep them free from insect vermin of all kinds. 

The quickest way to rid a coop of insects is by 
fumigation. To do this place in the coop or build- 
ing to be fumigated an iron kettle containing- live 
coals, over which throw two 1 or three pounds of 
sulphur. Close all windows, doors and crevices and 
keep closed for several hours. The fumes of sulphur 
are certain death to all insects and larger animals as 
well. Mites do not confine themselves to poultry but 
live freely upon the mammalia. They will attack 
horses stabled near the poultry roosts and cause 
them to rub and bite themselves. This may cause 
an eruption similar to that which occurs in the com- 
mon mange. Professor Schumacher reports a case 
of a cow in Germany which became mad and had 
to be killed, owing to colonies of mites in her ears. 
Her stall was separated from a hen roost by only a 
plank partition. 



73 



How to l ell the Laying Hen 

I might start this chapter after the manner of 
the man who delivered a discourse upon the snakes 
in Ireland and who. began by saying that there are 
no snakes in Ireland. There is no sign that infalli- 
bly distinguishes the laying hen. Systems based 
upon the anatomical structure of the fowl and war- 
ranted to tell the layers from the non-layers, come 
and go with other fads in poultrydom. A few years 
ago it was quite generally believed that the position 
of the pelvic bones gave this information. If the 
width between these was sufficient to' lay three 
fingers between, the hen was a two> hundred-egg-a- 
year layer, or was it three hundred? With the ad- 
vent of the Rhode Island Reds came the claim that 
a long deep body was a sure sign of prolific egg pro- 
duction, and birds of this description were hailed as 
certain layers. People who make this claim seem 
to overlook entirely the Wyandottes, which have a 
compact, blocky frame and are rather short in body. 
As layers, W}^andottes rank with the best. 

It is often said that egg-laying varies accord- 
ing to size of the comb. That is the larger the comb 
the better the hen will lay. 

Out in California there lives a man who has 
written a book in which he says that he can tell 
about a hen's laying by feeling of the bumps on her 
head. 

All of these signs distinguish the good layer 

74 



sometimes. And it is just as certain that sometimes 
they don't. 

Probably the most reliable and easiest recog- 
nized sign of a good layer is the condition of her 
comb. A productive hen carries her certificate of 
health and vigor right on the top of her head. When 
her comb is a bright red and rosy the hen is gen- 
erally laying. But there are exceptions. To my 
knowledge I have owned at least two hens with 
beautiful combs that were absolutely sterile. 

The laying hen is active. She is among the 
first to 1 leave the roost in the morning and the last 
to get back at night. She must necessarily be a 
hearty eater to produce her quota of eggs and this 
keeps her busy foraging. When she is properly 
handled her toe nails are worn from scratching. I 
had one fall about forty Barred Rocks that I hated 
to dispose of ecause they were laying quite well. 
But I needed the room to provide for growing stock 
so I sold the half of my Rocks that were last in get- 
ting- off the roost in the morning and found that egg 
receipts were not seriously interferred with. 

The laying hen shows intelligense and smart- 
ness. I think the best layer I ever owned was a 
cross between a Barred Rock and a Light Brahma. 
She had the comb, head, size and shape of the 
Brahma and the plumage of the Plymouth Rock. 
Owing to the color of her head we called her Silver 
Top. Silver Top was a wise old hen. She did not 
like to be confined and unless care was taken she 

75 



would slip out when anyone opened the gate to enter 
the pen. She hid her nest in an old pile of lumber 
in one corner of the pen. It was this that first at- 
tracted my attention to her laying. Every day as 
certain as the sun rose she would lay an egg. Any 
hole in the fence she was sure to find and crawl 
through. This finally was the cause of her undoing. 
While foraging in a neighbor's garden one day she 
came in contact with an unfriendly dog and that 
ended her career. Last, but not. least, the laying hen 
by her habits, carriage and general appearance gives 
evidence of having - a healthy and vigorous constitu- 
tion. Her plumage is bright and sits well in place. 
Her head and tail are carried well up. She shows 
pleasure in being alive. 

We may assume then that a bright comb, activ- 
ity, intelligence and vitality are the signs of a good 
layer. Occasionally a hen has all these and won't 
lay. But the rule is the other way and is safe to 
follow. 

How Many Eggs Should, a Hen 

? 



Lay 



What can the man who puts his money into a 
poultry venture expect a year in the way of egg re- 
turns? The cost of buildings, fixtures, feed and 
stock can approximately be ascertained. All these 
constitute outlay. How about the income? There 
are several factors that conspire to mislead the be- 
ginner. On the one hand are the boosters who talk 

76 



glibly of 200-egg strains, 90 per cent, hatches and 
unlimited profits, and on the other hand is the pes- 
simist who possibly has not found poultry keeping 
the snap he expected and who proclaims that there 
is no money in chickens. The seeker after accurate 
information need not take the word of either. Many 
of our state experiment stations have made accurate 
observations which have been published in bulletin 
form. 

Thus in 1907 Professor Horace Atwood of the 
West Virginian station took 600 White Leghorn 
pullets, kept them for a year, made a daily record 
of eggs laid and found that at the end of the year 
he had a total of 67,769, or an average of 113 eggs 
for each hen. 

Under the supervision of the late Professor 
Gowell of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Sta- 
tion, a record covering a period of ten years was 
kept of a flock of Barred Rocks. The receipts va- 
ried from 113 eggs per hen per year to 135. 

The University of Minnesota recently issued a 
bulletin, No. 119, in which the returns were given 
for a flock of 48 Buff Leghorns for twelve months. 
One hen laid not an egg while the rest varied from 
12 to 220, the average for the flock for the year was 
115 eggs. 

At the Poultry Experiment Station run in con- 
nection with Cornell University, at Ithaca, New 
York, Professor James E. Rice has been for a num- 
ber of years conducting interesting experiments. 

77 



They keep there from 400 to 600 layers. In a state- 
ment issued a few years ago, Professor Rice said 
that they had pens that averaged 166 eggs per hen 
per year and that the average for all the hens at the 
station was about twelve dozen per year. 

The United States census for 1900 reports the 
average annual farm production of eggs the country 
over at five dozen eggs per hen. This seems ex- 
cessively low, but in 19 1 2, as I remember the year, 
the Indiana Agricultural Commission sent inquiries 
to 250 farmers, to whch about two-thirds responded, 
stating that their yearly egg receipts were about 
70 eggs per hen. On many farms in the way of 
food, shelter and care poultry must absolutely rustle 
for themselves, hence such low averages. 

The most glowing reports, however, come from 
Australia. In that country they have for years been 
having egg-laying contests. In a laying contest 
held several years ago by the Daily Telegraph, a 
newspaper of Sidney, New South Wales, the win- 
ning pen, Black Langshans, laid an average of 247 
eggs per hen for the year. In the same contest, out 
of twelve pens of White Leghorns, picked up at ran- 
dom, the winning pen averaged 246 eggs per bird, 
while out of the twelve pens not a bird laid under 
200 eggs. A phenomenal record, sure! In the 
191 3-1 4 report of the laying competition at Para- 
field, South Australia, held under the management 
of Mr. D. F. Laurie, the government expert, the 
winning pen, composed of White Leghorns, laid 

78 



1,444 e &g s > an average of a little over 240 eggs per 
hen. 

When reports from these contests first began 
to be published ten years ago they created some 
stir in the poultry world. After the discovery was 
made that they were fostered as an aid to prove the 
desirability of certain localities for poultry farming 
and thus to attract settlers, interest in the contests 
slackened. Since then reports from Australian lay- 
ing contests are generally taken in this country with 
several grains of salt. 

For large flocks an average yearly production 
of ten dozen eggs per hen is regarded as good lay- 
ing. An average of 100 eggs is not bad. For small 
flocks these figures can easily be exceeded. It is a 
general rule in poultry keeping, that the smaller the 
number of birds kept the greater is the rate of profit 
that can be obtained from them. 

The State Experiment Stations are in charge of 
high-priced experts, but the actual work of feeding 
and attending the stock is done by ordinary help 
employed at month's wages. It is safe to assume 
that the stock does not always get the same care 
that a. thorough poultryman, looking after his own 
birds, would give them. For this reason the man 
or woman who understand their business and keep 
a small flock can often get egg yields that far sur- 
pass the average. There are plenty of back lot flocks 
that year after year yield their owner an average of 
from twelve to fifteen dozen eggs per hen. 

79 



anay -rkppiiances 

COLLAPSIBLE PEN. 

One of the handiest things around a poultry 
yard is a small pen that may be moved from place 
to place. Such a pen is useful in sheltering the 
newly-hatched brood, or in taking care of sick stock, 
broody hens, surplus males, etc. As generally con- 
structed, these pens are solidly built and the greatest 
objection to them is that they take up too much 
room when not in use. They are often in the way 
and for this reason easily broken and made useless. 

To avoid troubles of (this sort use a collapsible 
pen made as follows: Take two pieces of board, 
1x4, six feet long, and lay them on the ground par- 
allel to each other, two feet apart, outside measure. 
Nail board across each end. You then have an ob- 
long frame, 2x6 feet. Make three of these frames, 
lay them in a row, leaving about three inches be- 
tween the frames. Then take a strip of woven rab- 
bit wire, eighteen inches wide and about eighteen 
feet long, and nail it onto the frames. Your pen is 
then complete and you can set it up in almost any 
shape you desire. If a cover is wanted, and it is 
generally essential, make three more frames and 
cover with wire but have them disconnected. These 
covers can be covered with burlap and used as doors 
or shields in front of small coops during inclement 
weather. The best feature of this pen is that when 

80 



not in use it can be folded together and placed out 
of the way. If a smaller sized pen is wanted it can 
be built accordingly. In this case half-inch boards 
are sufficiently heavy. 

During the hot months if no other shade is 
available the pen may be used to protect the birds 
from direct sunlight. 

FEEDING TROUGHS. 

Do' you use in your yard so> unsanitary a utensil 
as the open V trough? If you doubt that such a 
trough is filthy and unsanitary watch the fowl as 
they eat from the trough and notice what filth gets 
mixed with the food. To anyone using such a 
trough I want to make the following suggestion : 
Saw your trough in twoi in the middle, nail a board 
across each open end, thus making two troughs. 
Nail one trough over the' other, leaving about four 
inches between. This can be done by means of two 
short pieces of boards. You now have a trough 
into which the hens can insert their heads, while 
body, feet and droppings remain outside. This 
trough also' keeps rain, snow and a good deal of 
dust out of the food. 

A convenient trough for chicks may be made 
by taking a piece of galvanized iron, five and one- 
half inches wide by two- feet long, bending it into a 
half round, or moon shape, and then nailing a short 
piece of board across each end. You now have a 
round trough which is divided into two compart- 

81 



ments by nailing a piece of board three inches wide 
running lengthwise through the center, to the bot- 
tom of the trough. A tinsmith can make the trough 
entirely of galvanized iron, thus doing away with 
the wood pants. The edges of the iron should be 
turned over to prevent the chicks from injuring 
themselves. This style of trough was described and 
illustrated in a bulletin issued by the Agricultural 
Department several years ago. 

EGG BOX. 
Eggs saved for hatching, if kept over three 
days, should be turned daily. When there are sev- 
eral dozen or perhaps several hundred eggs this be- 
comes somewhat of a job. This work can be facili- 
tated by using an egg box, a convenient sized one, 
having the following dimensions : Use boards one 
inch thick and ten inches wide. Make box thirteen 
by thirteen inches square, outside measure, nailing 
the sides of box together solidly. Adjust boards 
with hinges and hooks and eyes to top and bottom 
of box. You now have a box with the sides nailed 
fast together and with ends fastened with hinges. 
That is instead of having a box with one lid, as is 
generally the case, you have two lids, one on the 
top and the other on the bottom. The two lids en- 
able you to use or sell the older eggs out of one side 
of the box and place the fresh, newly-laid- ones in the 
other side. By this system you are constantly work- 
ing off your oldest eggs. The box must be fitted 

82 



with straw board fillers such as are used in ordinary 
egg cases. It will then hold twelve dozen eggs and 
every time you turn the box you turn every egg 
in it. 



Home Metkods For 
Preserving Eggs 

The high cost of living seems to be one of the 
troubles that follows in the wake of modern prog- 
ress. To store your eggs during the summer when 
they are twenty-five cents a dozen, using them later 
on when the prices approach the half-dollar mark, 
may help some in this matter. Fresh eggs may be 
preserved and kept wholesome and sweet from six 
to ten months with little trouble or expense. The 
reason that storage eggs are not always in this con- 
dition is not necessarily due to the fact of their hav- 
ing been stored. Storage eggs upon being exposed 
deteriorate rapidly. The commercial product after 
leaving the storage room, in some instances, is in 
the hands of the dealer for two or three weeks be- 
fore finally reaching the consumer. This delay and 
exposure does not improve them any. 

Eggs to be stored should be perfectly fresh. A 
stale egg will assuredly not freshen any while stored. 
A decayed egg or one (that has begun to decay is 
likely to taint all the surrounding eggs. In this 
country eggs stored for commercial purposes are 

83 



placed in large rooms or buildings where the tem- 
perature is reduced to a point slightly above freez- 
ing by artificial means. In most of the countries of 
Europe where cold storage is little in vogue, eggs 
for storage are preserved in lime water. 

For storing eggs at home a dry, clean cellar is 
the most suitable place. However, any moderately 
cool room where the temperature may be kept fairly 
constant, will do. In placing eggs in the preserva- 
tive care should be taken not to crack the shells. 

Lime Water. — Farmers' Bulletin No. 287, is- 
sued by the United States Department of Agricul- 
ture, gives the following- recipe for making a good 
lime water preservative : 

"Thirty gallons of water, ten pounds of salt, one-half 
bushel of finely slacked lime. After mixing thoroughly 
allow the mixture to stand two or three days and then 
remove the clear liquid in a tub or other suitable recep- 
tacle and place the eggs therein, or the eggs may be 
placed in the vessel first and the lime water poured over 
them. Have about two inches above the eggs." 

Edward Brown, in his English work on poul- 
try, gives the following as a method much used in 
England, and says eggs so preserved will keep bet- 
ter than in water glass : 

"Twenty gallons of water, four gallons of fine slacked 
lime, one pound of salt. Let stand six or seven days, then 
pour over eggs. Add from time to time a little more lime 
or keep a cloth of lime on top, touching the water, so 
tbat as the lime in solution is absorbed or loses its effect 
mGre can be taken up." 

84 



I have found the following very practical : Place 
air slacked lime in some vessel large enough for the 
purpose, to about one-third of its capacity, and then 
fill up with water. Stir thoroughly and allow to 
stand for nearly a week. Then pour the lime water 
into an earthen jar, into which place the eggs, leav- 
ing not less than two> inches of the liquid over tops 
of eggs. For every gallon of water used add a small 
handful of salt. Securely tie a piece of burlap, 
drawn taunt, over top of jar. Over the burlap 
spread some of the lime taken from the first vessel 
and set to' one side in the cellar. In a few days, 
when the lime on top of burlap has dried, add a lit- 
tle more to fill up cracks, which will keep contents 
of jar nearly airtight. I have kept eggs in this 
manner in first-class condition from April to the 
following January. 

Water Glass. — Probably the simplest and 
easiest way of preserving eggs on a small scale is 
by means of sodium silicate, commonly known as 
water glass, whch is kept on sale, put up in suitable 
sized quantities, by nearly all poultry supply houses. 
Eggs can be preserved this way at a cost of about 
two cents a dozen for the water glass used. Pure 
water that has been boiled and then cooled should 
be used in the proportion of about twelve parts of 
water to one of water glass. The solution should 
be made or poured in an earthen jar, into which the 
eggs are placed. If sufficient fresh eggs are not at 

S5 



hand to fill the jar, others may be added from time 
to* time. 

Bran. — Eggs may be preserved a few months 
in bran. An ordinary wooden box will do as re- 
ceptacle. In the bottom of box or other container 
place a layer of not less than two- inches of bran. 
Place thereon a layer of eggs, cover with bran and 
place another layer of eggs. Continue this process 
until box is full, being careful that eggs at no place 
come closer than two< inches to the wood. Box 
should be shaken thoroughly so< as to get eggs and 
bran well settled. Eggs preserved in this way will 
keep in good condition for three or four months. 

Salt. — In my experience I have found salt a 
less satisfactory medium for preserving eggs than 
bran. The process is about the same for each ex- 
cept that not as much salt is needed. 

"The American Poultry Book," the first work 
relating to poultry written in this country, published 
in 1843 by Harper & Brothers, relates the follow- 
ing: 

"In 1820 a tradesman of Paris asked permission of the 
prefect of police to sell in the market eggs that had been 
preserved in a composition, of which he kept the secret. 
More than 30,000 of these eggs were sold in the open 
market without any complaint being made, or any notice 
taken of them, when the board of health thought proper 
to examine them. They were found to be perfectly fresh, 
and could only be distinguished from others by a pulveru- 
lent stratum of carbonate of lime on the shell. It was 
discovered that they had been preserved in a highly satur- 
ated lime water." 

86 



1 urkeys 

The turkey is America's most distinctive con- 
tribution to the poultry world. It is also one of the 
latest, if not the latest, animals to become domesti- 
cated. Prior to the discovery of America the turkey 
was unknown to civilized men. The early explorers 
of this continent observed the turkey and noted its 
size, strength and beauty. 

The turkey was . imported into Europe early 
in the sixteenth century and is extensively raised 
there, especially in England and Erance. The turkey 
still possesses many of the traits common to 1 its race 
in the wild native state. It likes to roam and thrives 
but indifferently when even moderately confined. It 
is wholly unsuited to back-lot poultry culture. Peo- 
ple sometimes make the mistake of trying to- raise 
poults, as turkey chicks are called, in small pens or 
yards. So far as my observation goes the poults 
generally die. They seem unable to stand either the 
confinement or the tainted ground over which other 
poultry have run. The mature birds are at their 
best when constantly out of doors, even during the 
severest weather. In Rhode Island, at the Experi- 
ment Station, turkeys keep in the best health when 
strictly without housing of any kind. 

The inability of the turkey to' accustom itself 
to> the environments of intensive poultry farming 
has given it the reputation of being delicate and 

87 



hard to raise. However, when handled according 
to their natural requirements they are extremely 
hardy. 

The turkey hen likes to steal her nest and often 
succeeds best when allowed to sit in a nest of her 
own choice. Owing to the danger of depredations 
from dogs, wolves and other animals, the safer plan 
is to have the turkey hen do her hatching in a nest 
provided by her owner. The hatching nest should 
be so arranged and placed as not to excite the sus- 
picions of the turkey hen by showing too plainly 
that it is the work of man. Old weather-beaten 
barrels or boxes bedded with grass or leaves se- 
cured nearby, in which are placed two or three de- 
coy eggs, will often be adopted by the turkey hen. 
These nests should be placed in quiet, secluded 
places. It is a good plan to confine the hen to the 
nest when the hatch is due to come off. Some tur- 
key hens leave the nest with the first few poults 
hatched, leaving the remaining eggs to chill and the 
poults to' die in the shell. As a precautionary meas- 
ure, dust the setting turkey two or three times with 
Empire Lice Killer before the hatch comes off and 
use Empire Head Lice Ointment on the young 
poults as directed. 

Little poults should be kept out of wet grass 
and rain for this is likely to> be fatal to them. They 
require feed similar to' that fed little chicks. 

When poults with hens are confined in coops, 
care should be taken to keep the quarters clean. They 

88 



sicken easily when kept on ground even slightly 
tainted with droppings. 

There are six standard varieties of turkeys 
grown in this country, viz. : Bronze, Narragansett, 
Buff, Slate, White and Black. Of these varieties 
the Bronze is the largest. There is not much pref- 
erence shown in the open market for any particular 
variety. Plump, well finished specimens of any va- 
riety always command top prices. 

Ducks ana Geese 

Some of the most successful poultry farms in 
this country are devoted entirely to duck raising. 
In the eastern part of the United States such farms 
are numerous. Ducks have fewer disease than 
chickens and mature quicker. They stand up well 
under methods of intensive culture. Thousands of 
ducks can be raised on a farm of comparatively 
small area. On a chicken farm the principal output 
is generally eggs. On a duck farm it. is dressed 
young ducks. Young ducks, or green ducks, as 
they are called, can easily be fitted for the market 
in ten weeks, weighing five pounds. 

The American Standard of perfection recog- 
nizes twelve varieties of ducks, but the Pekin and 
Indian Runners are the only kinds extensively raised 
in this country. The Pekin duck was introduced 
into this country from China in 1873, and as a 

89 



hardy, quick maturing' table fowl it is unsurpassed. 
Incubators are used almost exclusively for hatching 
duck eggs and used entirely on all the large plants. 
The process of hatching duck eggs and hen eggs is 
similar, except that for the duck eggs four weeks 
are required and generally more moisture towards 
the end of hatch. Clean, reasonably warm, well 
ventilated quarters should be provided for the young 
ducks and care should be taken to protect them 
against being chilled during the first two weeks. 
During the warm season they should also be pro- 
vided with plenty of shade as they are easily af- 
fected by the hot summer sun. When so 1 affected 
they sometimes stiffen out flat- on the ground and 
are apparently dead. When in this condition they 
may occasionally be saved by placing in a cool spot 
and moistenig their heads with cold water. The 
duck has no crop and its ration should consist 
largely of soft food. Young ducks should not have 
access to water until their entire plumage has been 
taken on. For the first few days stale bread crumbs 
moistened with milk or water make a good food for 
the young ducklings. The food should never be 
sloppy, but just damp enough when pressed in the 
hand to stick together. Green food in some form 
should always be provided. Ducks will not eat grit 
as hens do out of a box, therefore it should be 
placed in their mash along with the regular food. 

Geese, like turkeys, prefer large ranges. They 
are a grazing fowl and will pick a large part of 

90 



their ration if allowed the freedom of a good range. 
In mating geese, not over three females should be 
given to one male and two will generally produce 
better results. A goose will lay from twelve to 
twenty eggs before becoming broody, but twelve is 
about the right number for a setting for best results. 
Twenty-eight days are necessary for incubation. A 
good many people prefer to set their goose eggs 
under hens. The hens are more docile and can be 
easier looked after. It's no- fun fooling around a 
setting goose. Both goslings and ducklings should 
be fed only damp mashes for the first two weeks. 
Unlike little chicks, they do< not seem to do well on 
dry grains. When setting a hen with goose eggs 
four or five eggs should be given her. 

The American Standard of Perfection recog- 
nizes six varieties of geese, of which the Toulouse 
is the most popular in America. The Toulouse is 
popularly supposed to' have originated in France 
and transplanted from that country to England. The 
Toulese found in the United States come from Eng- 
lish stock. 

In most of the countries of Europe ducks and 
geese are highly prized for their meat and are al- 
most a staple article of diet in the households of the 
well-to-do-. In this country the demand for these 
fowls is not so general but it is constantly growing 
and we may safely look for a marked increase in 
the culture of water fowl. 



91 



Poultry Diseases 

The limited space of a book like this allows 
only a brief discussion of the commonest ailments. 
The diseases most frequently met with in the poultry 
yard are those affecting the alimentary tract and 
diseases of the respiratory organs. A good many 
of these are contagious and it is well to remember 
that prevention is always better than attempted cure. 
The first requisites for prevention are sanitary con- 
ditions, essential to which are plenty of fresh air, 
hygienic housing, feeding, etc. Tainted soil is some- 
times the cause of serious loss. Heavy clay soil, 
upon which poultry is closely confined years after 
year finally becomes so impregnated with droppings 
that it is unfit for poultry culture and can only be 
purified by planting or sowing to some crop. Badly 
tainted ground is fatal to young chicks. Upon it 
they can not be raised to maturity. The only salva- 
tion lies in removing the birds to fresh soil. Many 
a poultryman has been put out of business from this 
cause who never knew the reason for his trouble. 

Contagious diseases are conveyed from bird to 

bird by germs, often through the drinking water. 

Dr. G. B. Morse, of the United States Department 

of Agriculture, the well-known authority on poultry 

diseases, has the following to say regarding this 

point : 

"Water-borne diseases are frequent in the poultry 
yard. Clean your drinking fountains ever so well. If you 

92 



are permitting to run at large one bird sick with any of 
the contagious diseases of the head parts or with bowel dis- 
eases you may count on that water supply being contam- 
inated in less than one hour's time." 

As a safeguard against contagion of this kind. 
Dr. Morse recommends the use of antiseptics in the 
drinking water. 

For this purpose Empire Anti-Germ is unex- 
celled. It has been tried and proven. A small quan- 
tity of Anti-Germ placed in a pan of water destroys 
all bacteria in the water and such water as it comes 
in contact with afflicted mucous membranes either 
in the mouth, nostrils, throat or intestinal tract, 
soothes and heals them. 

Following are some of the diseases common to 
poultry : 

WHITE DIARRHEA. 

Of diseases dreaded by the poultryman white 
diarrhea stands first. It generally comes unexpect- 
edly. In its virulent form it takes toll of as much 
as three-fourths or more of the flock exposed to its 
ravages. 

Professor B. F. Kaup, veterinary pathologist 
at the State Agricultural College, Fort Collins, Col- 
orado, distinguishes two forms of this disease. How- 
ever, the symptoms and percentage of fatalities are 
about the same for each. White diarrhea is more 
common among artificially incubated and brooded 
chicks than among hen-hatched. But it is by no 
means unknown among the latter. So far as serious 

93 



mortality is concerned the disease is generally lim- 
ited to the first three weeks of the chick's life. It is 
doubtful if a chick having white diarrhea can be 
cured. But much can be done to prevent the disease 
from spreading through the entire flock. Anti- 
Germ placed in the drinking water destroys the dis- 
ease germs and thus stops infection from this source, 
and Empire Poultry Powder strengthens the entire 
digestive system. These two remedial agents, along 
with proper sanitation will stop the spread of white 
diarrhea in any flock. 

ROUP. 

Roup is an acute contagious disease affecting 
the respiratory organs of poultry. Scientists are 
disagreed as to whether roup is simply the result of 
a bad cold or a distinct disease, depending upon a 
separate germ for its propogation. 

Dr. D. E. Salmon, formerly chief of the United 
States Bureau of Animal Industry, makes a distinc- 
tion between ordinary roup, or contagious catarrh, 
and diphtheritic roup. Dr. Salmon says that dip- 
theritic roup is always recognizable by the presence 
of diptheritic patches upon the mucous membrane 
of the afflicted fowl. 

However, most writers class all these afflic- 
tions under the generic term of roup, claiming them 
to be the same disease exhibited in different degrees 
of virulence. The average man or woman who 
raises chickens is little interested in these distinc- 

94 



tions. When a hen has a swollen head with dis- 
charges at the eyes and nostrils she is said to have 
roup. 

The early symptoms of roup and a cold are sim- 
ilar and for all practical purposes and for lack of 
any definite knowledge that we have to the con- 
trary, we may assume that roup is an aggravated 
case of cold. 

The disease, in many instances, is due to im- 
proper ventilation. When the coop is closed tight 
either during the day time or night, with the 
chickens inside they often develop roup. In such 
cases, throw open the doors and windows. Keep 
the latter open partly at least in all seasons. There 
is nothing more essential to the well being of fowl 
than fresh air. 

Roup in all its stages is contagious. The con- 
tagion is spread chiefly through the drinking water. 
The surest way to check the spread of diseases of 
this kind would be to isolate the afflicted birds as 
soon as they show' any symptoms. As this is not 
always practical the best that can be done is to give 
the drinking water antiseptic treatment. Use Em- 
pire Anti-Germ as directed in the drinking water 
and the danger of contagion is obviated and the 
sick birds will recover. 

BRONCHITIS. 
Bronchitis is due to catarrh of the trachea and 
bronchial tubes. It is indicated by a rattle or bub- 

95 



bling sound when the bird breathes. In a majority 
of cases the symptoms are not serious. Sometimes 
the disease becomes chronic and may terminate in 
malignant roup. As a preventative and cure use 
Empire Anti-Germ. 

CHICKENPOX, OR SORE HEAD. 

This is a contagious disease which rarely at- 
tacks full grown birds, but is usually seen in the 
fall of the year on partly matured stock. It is most 
prevalent during warm, damp weather and conse- 
quently is most fatal to late hatched chicks. Sores 
appear upo nthe face, head and sometimes under 
the wings and upon the outer surface of the thighs. 
Birds afflicted with the disease should be separated 
from the rest of the flock. The afflicted parts should 
be bathed with soap and water to loosen the crusts 
and subsequently washed with a solution of Empire 
Anti-Germ. 

PIP. 

Pip is a hardened condition of the tip and sides 
of the tongue which is often found in birds having 
cold, roup or catarrh. These diseases, by stopping 
up the nostrils, cause the birds to breath through 
the mouth, which in turn causes the dry and hard- 
ened condition of 'the tongue. Do- not tear off the 
hardened end but treat the original disease and ap- 
ply glycerine to the tongue. 

96 



GAPES. 

This disease receives its name from the fact 
that chicks affected with it extend the head fre- 
quently and open the beak widely, that is they gape. 
They do this every minute or two, more frequently 
as the disease progresses. Gapes is caused by a 
parasitic worm which fastens itself to the chick's 
windpipe. These worms, or their eggs, are picked 
off the ground by the birds and thus find lodgment 
in the throat. 

Gapes usually occur only between the second 
and fifth week of the chick's life. The sick birds 
should be separated from the others and when the 
ground is badly infected it is best to remove all 
stock and seed to grass for two or three years. There 
are various ways of removing the parasites from 
the throat. Causing it to breathe lime dust or the 
fumes of strong vinegar, or inserting a feather mois- 
tened with kerosene down the throat will do this. 
Birds thus treated should recover while the strong, 
vigorous ones generally recover without any treat- 
ment. 

CROP-BOUND. 

This is a condition readily recognized by the 
external appearance of the bird. The crop is greatly 
enlarged, pendulous and constantly filled or partly 
filled with remnants of food and other things eaten. 
Birds so affected may be relieved by pouring down 
their throat a tablespoon of sweet oil, after which 

97 



the crop should be gently manipulated. While do- 
ing this suspend the bird head downwards from time 
to time and press the loosened contents of the crop 
towards the throat so that they will escape from the 
mouth. After the crop has been emptied keep with- 
out food for a day and then feed sparingly on soft 
feed until recovery is complete. When crop-bound 
is caused by the presence of some indigestible object 
as a nail, piece of wood ,etz., it may be necessary to 
operate, which consists in cutting open the crop, re- 
moving the obstruction and sewing up again. 

BUMBLE FOOT. 

This is caused by an external injury to the sole 
of the foot, causing it to become swollen and pain- 
ful, thus laming the bird. If an abscess has formed 
this should be opened, the pus washed out and the 
incision treated with some antiseptic preparation. 
Empire Anti-Germ dissolved in water is well 
adapted for this purpose. 

When bumble foot is neglected the inflamma- 
tion often extends to the joints higher up, in which 
case recovery is doubtful. 

SCALY LEG. 

The form of scabies caused by a mite burrow- 
ing under the epidermis on the feet and shanks of 
the bird is known as scaly leg. The disease is read- 
ily recognized by the rough and unsightly appear- 

98 



aiice of the fowl's legs. It is contagious and unless 
checked spreads slowly through the flock. 

Two applications of Empire Head Lice Oint- 
ment used one week apart will effect a cure. 

EGG-BOUND. 

When a hen is unable to extrude a fully formed 
egg we say she is egg-bound. Such a hen will be 
found walking around with tail depressed and fre- 
quently going to the nest, Closely watched while 
on the nest it can easily be seen that she is straining. 
Often the egg can be felt in the body of the hen. 

The best that can be done for cases of this kind 
is to inject a little sweet oil into the vent. Another 
good treatment is to hold the bird for half hour 
with vent in water hot as she can stand it. 

APOPLEXY. 

Sometimes a bird that has to all appearances 
been in the best of health is found dead on the nest, 
under the perch or out in the yard. Likely as not 
death has resulted from the bursting of a blood ves- 
sel in the brain, commonly called apoplexy. Apo- 
plexy is due to a weakness of the arteries or to over- 
excitement or exertion. Arterial weakness is gen- 
erally one of the results of over-fatness. To pre- 
vent such a condition, compel the bird to exercise 
and regulate the diea. 



99 



RHEUMATISM. 

The cause, symptoms and treatment of rheu- 
matism in fowls and humans are quite similar. With 
each the disease .is usually brought on by exposure 
to cold and dampness. The fowl afflicted with 
rheumatism shows a disinclination to walk or stand. 
It spends most of its time sitting on the ground. 
Often the feet are drawn out of shape and the limbs 
swollen. The best that can be done in the way of 
cure is removal to dry and warm quarters. 



100 



THE CAMPBELL BROS.' COAL CO., 
Wholesale and Retail Dealers in Fuel and Feed. 
Yards, 1400 W. 32nd Ave. 

Office, 1 40 1 W. 38th Ave. 
Telephone Main 473. 

MR. E. GROSSER. 

Dear Sir: — In reply to your inquiry concerning our 
experience with Empire Poultry Powder, I will say we 
handle the leading brands of poultry preparations and sell 
what is called for. Customers who fail to get results from 
other powders, or who express no particular choice, we 
generally induce to use Empire Powder. So far as my 
knowledge goes peopl© who use it are highly pleased with 
results and continue buying it. I am convinced Empire 
Powder does what you claim for it. 

THE CAMPBELL BROS.* COAL CO., 

By J. C. CAMPBELL, Pres. 

' Campbell Bros, is the oldest and largest inde- 
pendent feed and coal company doing- business in 
Denver. All who know "J oe " Campbell, the founder 
and still active head of the business, will readily 
understand that he would not put his O. K. to any 
proposition or statement of which he could not hon- 
estly approve. 



EMPIRE TONIC CO.: 

I have been using Empire Poultry Powder for the past 
year and am sure it is a great egg-producer. Besides I 
fed it to my little chicks and I never before had such suc- 
cess in bringing them through. 

WM. PETTIS, 
2372 10th St., Denver, Colo. 

101 



EMPIRE TONIC CO.: 

Last spring severe diarrhea broke out in my flock. Out 
of eighteen hens three died. Half of my flock was droopy. 
I bought a package of Empire Poultry Powder, using it as 
directed, and within a week my birds were feeling better 
and in less than a month they were laying splendidly. I 
am sure that your poultry powder is the best thing I ever 
gave my chickens. 

ORANGE TALTON, 
3921 Blake St., Denver, Colo. 



EMPIRE TONIC CO.: 

I want to say that nothing ever did my chickens so 
much good as the package of Empire Powder I fed them 
last summer. I am using it now and hope that as long as 
I have chickens I may be able to get it. 

SADIE BUFORD, 
2428 Emerson St., Denver, Colo. 



EMPIRE TONIC CO.: 

I have been using your Poultry Powder with gratify- 
ing results. My birds are in pink of condition and have 
increased materially in laying. 

MRS. H. E. HENDERSON, 
1600 So. Washington St., Denver, Colo. 



EMPIRE TONIC CO.: 

I can not speak too highly of Empire Poultry Powder, 
which I have been using for two years. Last year, out 
of 38 chicks hatched, I lost but one and this year, out of 
G4, I lost five, but of these three were out in a rain storm 
and were chilled to death. 

I feed Empire Powder to all my poultry and use 
Empire head lice ointment on my chicks. My poultry 
never were in better shape. 

R. M. WILSON, 
Ft. Collins, Colo. 

102 



EMPIRE TONIC CO.: 

I fed Empire Poultry Powder to my hens the past 
spring and summer with the best of results. My hens 
kept in fine condition and could not have laid better. 

MRS. S. M. BALL, 
1218 Ames St., Denver, Colo. 



EMPIRE TONIC CO.: 

I have used Empire Poultry Powder and recommend 
it to all my friends. It certainly does make the hens lay. 
MRS. MAGGIE CASEY, 
767 Vallejo St., Denver, Colo. 



103 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



002 866 991 4 ^ 



FEED 

Empire Poultry 
Powder 

TO POULTRY 

It keeps chicks healthy and fills 
the egg basket. 



FEED 

Empire Stock 
Powder 

TO LARGER LIVR STOCK 

It brings Health and Vigor to 

Horses, Cattle, Sheep 

and Swine, 



EAMES BROS.. PRINTERS. DENVER. COLO. 



